This World, Subspace, and Beyond
by Captain Black Knight
Summary: The Super Smash Bros. world was perfectly normal until nine teenagers got sucked into it by the Nintendo Wii. Now they must do whatever they can to save this world and return to their own world. *Possible spoiler alert!* Read/review! Chapter 36 is up! :D
1. Chapter 1: Fun and Games

This World, Subspace, and Beyond

Prologue:

Behold a distant place known only as "this world." In this world, trophies fight. They know nothing but fighting. Fighting is the sole reason for their existence. Being turned back into a trophy, being unable to fight, is much like death. Those are the rules of this world. But when someone…or something…breaks those rules, the world will pay a terrible price. Is there another force controlling the fates of these trophies? Are there several forces in control? And what will happen when these forces collide in this world? Only time will tell…

Chapter 1: Fun and Games

I had invited a bunch of my friends to hang out at my house on a Saturday night. The people that were hanging out at my house included Will, Jim, Renee, Kayla, Candace, Lex, Jess, Kitty, and myself (the name is Brooke). Anyway, the weather was incredibly miserable outside because of some hurricane that was raging some hundreds or thousands of miles away from here. I thought it was funny that weather people name it Hurricane Ike. So, this hurricane was stirring up massive thunderstorms all over the place. The wind was blowing at insane speeds, lightning struck everywhere, and torrential downpours had flooded the windows of every house in sight. So what's my point? Well, this all relates to what happened next.

Since going outside was out of the question, we decided to play some video games (I know, stupid idea, huh?) and eat snacks. Thus, everyone gathered around the giant TV in the living room, and I proceeded to set up our favorite game: _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_. You could say it's the binding force that keeps all my friends together. Anyway, time went on, and we played round after round of madness and mayhem, trying to kill each other without dying ourselves. It's definitely a thrill to see the greatest Nintendo characters on one screen: Link, Samus, Lucario, Ike, Kirby, Pit, Zelda, Wolf, Peach, Captain Falcon, Snake, etc. The final round of the night consisted of a team battle: Jim and Will vs. Candace and myself. In other words, it was Samus and Kirby vs. Wolf and Link. Yeah, it was an epic battle, all right, seeing as we were battling on the Spear Pillar. It's too bad we didn't get to finish our battle. Why? Here's the reason: I had unleashed my Final Smash on Jim (since Will was already out of the game), and I was about to deal the final strike to win the game, when suddenly a massive lightning bolt struck incredibly close to the house, and the thunder that followed felt like a sonic boom that made us all severely flinch. The lights flickered, and the room turned pitch black. The entire house lost all electrical power. Well, almost all power.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked the others as I opened my phone to add light to the dark room.

"Yeah, we're fine, but we can't see much of anything," Kayla replied.

"So much for our game," Jim and Candace both chimed in. "Now what do we do?" I was about to say something when a blue light caught my eye. I turned around and aimed my lit-up phone at it. To my surprise – and probably everyone else's surprise – it was the blue LED light from the Nintendo Wii, and it was illuminating brighter and dimmer and brighter again in a steady pattern. Apparently the Wii was still on, but nothing was displayed on the TV screen. In fact, the Wii was the only electronic system that still had power.

"That's strange…how could the Wii possibly still have power while the rest of the house is blacked out?" Kitty had made a legitimate hypothesis. The situation with the Wii had made absolutely no logical sense, but that didn't stop me from investigating it.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," I answered her. I knelt in front of the Wii and touched the blue LED light, but the second I did that, it glowed brighter and brighter, and without warning it shot out and illuminated the entire room! Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding light as it shot through each of us. My body felt like it was being pulled forward by some force I couldn't grasp. The next thing I knew my friends and I were falling or flying through some kind of vortex.

"Ack! What's going on? What's happening to us?" Renee had cried.

"I don't know, but wherever we're headed, we could be in a world of trouble!" Will yelled back to Renee. Little did we know, Will was exactly right. Before we reached the end of the vortex, everyone seemed to lose consciousness…or at least, I did.


	2. Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

I opened my eyes, and my vision slowly became clear after a few seconds. I don't know how long I was out cold, but it seemed like hours. I was lying face-up on the ground, looking up at the sky. To my right, a couple hundred feet away was the edge of a vast forest, and to my left stood mountains in the distance. But something wasn't right. An entire blanket of crimson clouds was quickly moving in and covering the entire sky. Not to mention that I could also feel a burning sensation on the back of my neck, as if I was being branded. I quickly sat up and raised my arm to rub my neck, but then a shock of pain rushed to my left shoulder. I winced at the pain, and then I realized that I must have somehow dislocated my shoulder when I fell through the vortex and to the ground. Did I fall from the sky…that was now dark red and intimidating? Oh dear…not too far from here I could see some kind of large flying aircraft that looked like the Battleship Halberd. Maybe it was, and it was flying overhead. I stood up while holding my arm, and I looked up at the Halberd. Apparently it was releasing a bunch of purple shadowy stuff that looked like a bunch of Shadow Bugs. These bugs were spread all over the place – and all around me.

"Uh-oh…not good…" I thought aloud. It was not good at all. The bugs transformed into Primids. "That's just great…um, I could use a Beam Sword right about now." Some of them were unarmed while others wielded swords and boomerangs, and all of them were targeting me on all sides. There was no way that I could run, so I had to attempt to fight them off. So much for that, because the second I turned to face one of the Sword Primids, it charged at such a blinding speed that I was caught off-guard. It slashed my right leg and knocked me backwards, causing me to hit my head off the dirt. _That…hurt!_ _Since when could Primids attack with such great speed and power?_ The other Primids were slowly closing in on me when –SLASH! Several Primids that were closest to where I was lying had just been sliced in half, and they dissolved into Shadow Bugs and disappeared. _Who or what the hell was that?!_ I thought as I peeked out of one eye. My jaw dropped. Standing before me with his shining sword was none other than the great Hero of Time, Link! He stood right in front of me with his Master Sword ready.

The Primids redirected their attention towards Link as he fought back against them. He slashed and stabbed and kicked them until only a dozen of them remained. Not one Primid could touch him! I was impressed!

One of them tried to sneak-attack me from behind, but Link slashed it before it could get close. Finally he charged a Spin Attack and eradicated the remaining Primids (good thing I was on the ground). The Primids all dissolved into Shadow Bugs and disappeared, and all was calm again.

Link briefly checked the immediate area, and then, content that it was safe, he sheathed his sword. He turned around to face me, and the expression on his face changed from one of determination and strength to one of kindness, but with clear confusion. Boy, was I dumbfounded. I swallowed and forced a weak smile right back at him, but all I could do was show a look of shock and confusion on my face. He merely smiled at me, took a step toward me, and offered me his hand. My expression quickly changed to that of confirmation as I accepted and took hold of his hand. I stood up and took a step forward – only to fall right back down to my knee. Another shot of pain had rushed through my right leg. The wide-eyed Link knelt beside me, not understanding why I wasn't standing. I had remembered that a Primid caused damage to my leg and snapped the bone. Great, just great! My shoulder is dislocated, my leg is broken, and I'm dizzy from hitting my head. I tried to stand up a second time, but the pain and the dizziness was too much for me to handle. I blacked out and fell backwards into Link's arms. That was the last thing I remembered…


	3. Chapter 3: Tattoos and Snakes

Chapter 3: Tattoos and Snakes

An array of faint, mysterious sounds buzzed around me. I could hear, but I couldn't see. Everything was pitch black. I supposed that my eyes were probably closed which would account for my blindness.

It took a bit of effort to open my eyes, but at least I wasn't greeted by the harsh sunlight. The first thing that came into view was Link's face. He had a concerned expression that soon turned to a look of relief.

I noticed that I was lying on the ground with my upper body propped up by his arm. I also noticed that the two of us were inside the entrance to a small cave deep in the forest. He must have carried me here after I blacked out and then kept me safe from other Primids.

I sat up after I gained full consciousness, and the pain that I had before—the pain in my leg, my shoulder, my head, and especially my neck—came surging back all at once. I winced.

_This just isn't my day, is it?_ I thought to myself.

Link understood immediately that I was still having issues, so he reached into one of his utility pouches, and he pulled out a small bottle that contained a shining, pink fairy.

"Aww, how cute!" I gushed. "It's a fairy in a bottle!" I frowned when he pushed it toward me. I blinked in confusion. "Wait, are you using it on me?" Link merely smiled and ignored my protest. He opened the bottle to release the fairy, and it flew out and around me several times before it finally disappeared. The pain instantly stopped.

_Did it work?_ I thought. I decided to test it, so I slowly stood up and moved around a bit. Just as I hoped, it did work. My leg was healed, my shoulder was back in its proper place, and my head was calm and pain-free. I was fully healed!

Or so I thought. I could still feel an acute twinge of pain on the back of my neck.

"Ouch! Apparently that didn't completely work," I commented. Link was gazing apologetically towards me. I quickly backtracked. "Oh no, don't be sorry! You did a great job, and I really appreciate your help. Think about it. You single-handedly fought off an entire army of Primids, and you saved my life!" I then proceeded to give Link a hug, and I think that made him feel better, because he returned the gesture. When we separated, his hand slid casually across the back of my neck.

Suddenly, I froze. Random images flooded into my brain at an alarming rate. I didn't understand how or why, but somehow I was having a vision: I saw Lex at the top of an iced-over mountain, and she was freezing like no other. As soon as she sneezed, the vision switched to another image. Candace this time and apparently she was running from…laser-fire? The images disappeared almost as quickly as they materialized, and Link came back into view. I blinked in bewilderment.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, my face scrunching up in confusion. Was that really a vision? I could have visions? Since when? And my friends, what were they doing there?

My friends! I jumped to my feet. "Oh damn! I was so worried about my own health and safety that I forgot that my friends are here in this world as well!" Again, Link had no idea what I was talking about, so we sat down, and I proceeded to explain the whole situation to him as best as I could. I didn't want to further confuse or traumatize him by mentioning the video game part, so I carefully left that detail out of my long-winded explanation.

"Do you understand what is going on now?" I asked him, praying that he would. I don't know if I could explain that again. Luckily, Link nodded. I beamed at the action. "Oh wow, I totally forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Brooke! I already know who you are, but don't ask me how; it's a long story." _One I don't feel like telling,_ I added mentally. Link smiled and nodded again. He then pointed at me with a questioning expression.

"What?" I followed his gaze and understood immediately. "Oh, you mean my neck?" I asked. "Yeah, I don't understand that. At first I thought it was hurting for no reason, but when you slid your hand across it, I suddenly had these weird visions of my friends. It felt different from my other injuries to begin with. It felt more like a burn. Could you check it for me?" I turned around and lifted my hair so that he could examine the back of my neck. Link peered curiously at my exposed skin, and I saw him flinch out of the corner of my eye. He stepped away and walked over to a small mound of soft dirt. He looked around, then reached for a small, but durable stick and proceeded to draw a small picture that I recognized immediately.

"I know that symbol!" I exclaimed. "It's the universal Super Smash Bros. symbol that represents this world. But why is it on the back of my neck? And what does it have to do with my friends?" But then I just realized that in one of the images I saw that Lex had the same red symbol on her left arm. So we all had it?

I pondered that for a moment.

"I'm not positive, but I have a hunch that when my friends and I entered this world, we were branded with these symbols, and if I'm right, then these tattoos should let us check up on each other." I was about to say more when suddenly an explosion occurred near the cave. Both of us stood up, exchanged a quick glance and a nod and rushed to the entrance to see what was going on.

Dread filled me. _Oh no, not again…_I sighed. It was another army of Primids and they were only about three hundred feet away from the cave. Their eyes locked on to us at once, and they began their advance towards us with swords, boomerangs, and scopes.

I knew that there was only one option.

"RUN FOR IT!" I yelled as I dashed out of the cave. Link was quick to follow suit, and we both ran for the clearing outside the forest. Unfortunately, the Primids were close behind us. By the time we made it to the clearing outside the forest, the Primid Army was already closing in. They surrounded us on all sides. We were standing back to back as they stared us down.

"Link, what do we do now?" I cried. "There are more of them this time, and we're outnumbered and out armed!" Link whipped out his sword at that moment, but instead of using it himself, he offered it to me. I stared at him and asked, "You're letting me use your sword? But how can you defend yourself if I have your sword?" Link merely smiled and gave me a look of confidence and trust, so with a nod, I accepted it. I readied myself to fight as I gripped the almighty Master Sword in my hand. Link, meanwhile, whipped out an entire arsenal of weapons – arrows, bombs, a boomerang, a clawshot, you name it. Of course, he still wielded the Hylian Shield as well.

And so began the massacre. Surprisingly, I was fending off the Primids pretty well. It might have been the sword, but I was probably a better fighter than I had expected. Link wasn't having much trouble, either. From a distance he fired arrows and threw his Gale Boomerang at them; up close he grabbed and threw Primids with the Clawshot, and he also kicked and bashed them with his shield. I had to say, I was impressed. When the last Primid rushed toward me, I slashed it with the Master Sword and it dissolved into Shadow Bugs in front of me.

I tried and failed to keep the smug smile off my face.

"Nice teamwork, eh, Link?" I mused. I twirled the Master Sword and prepared to leave, but when I turned around, I saw the remaining Shadow Bugs clustering together into four Giant Primids!

I smacked my forehead. "I think I spoke too soon."

The Giant Primids raised their arms and prepared to strike. I thought that we were goners when – BOOM! Explosions had appeared out of nowhere, obliterating the Giant Primids. I looked around to see who or what did that, but I could only see more explosions hitting the Primids, which had caused them to dissolve into Shadow Bugs and disappear. When the smoke cleared, Link and I both saw a tall figure standing before us.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" It was none other than Solid Snake. I couldn't contain my enthusiasm. I pointed at him and yelled, "IT'S A SNAKE! IT'S A SNAKE!" Snake merely raised an eyebrow, but Link couldn't help but give himself a fully-fledged facepalm. I quickly added, "What? It is…oh, thanks for helping us, Snake. That was a close call!" Snake replied with thumbs up, despite the obvious confusion he showed on his face: He had no idea who I was or how I knew him, but it seemed like he didn't care enough to ask. Link looked up and noticed that the sky was clearing up. It was evident that the Battleship Halberd was flying to another location.

"We should go after that ship," Snake informed us. Link and I nodded in agreement. The three of us turned and ran off in the direction of the Halberd. As we did, a foreboding thought drifted through my mind. _I had better find my friends soon. God only knows what trouble they could encounter…_


	4. Chapter 4: Separation and Reunion

Chapter 4: Separation and Reunion

The three of us were running for half an hour before we caught up to the Battleship Halberd, and as we went I explained my situation to Snake the same way I explained it to Link a while ago. After attempting to chase the Halberd for quite some time, we eventually made it to a hillside that looked rather barren. In fact, the only thing that we could see in the distance was dust and an abandoned castle to our right. Again the sky was dark red due to the Halberd flying over this war-torn wasteland.

"Hmm, that Halberd is still in our sights, but it seems like we'll never catch up if we keep going at the rate we've been going," Snake hypothesized. Link seemed to brush off Snake's statement, or at least that was what I thought had happened seeing as he randomly decided to rush ahead of us. It was obvious that there was no way that we were going to stop him, so Snake and I followed him, biting our tongues to keep from commenting. We kept going until we got to the edge of a short cliff that was pretty close to the castle, almost the distance of two football fields.

"This is nice. We've been chasing that ship for hours and we haven't been attacked once since we started pursuing it," I groaned. I must have jinxed us, since at the very moment I said that, a low rumbling sound came from behind us. We turned around to see the giant, ugly face of the Koopa King, Bowser.

"Wow, that's just perfect. This day just keeps getting better and better!" I said with an obvious ring of sarcasm. Bowser replied with his version of an evil laugh, and then he said, "What luck! I managed to run into two fine fighters and…a little girl?" It was evident that like the other residents of this world, Bowser had no clue about my identity.

"My name is Brooke. That's all you need to know. And I already know that you're Bowser, King of the Koopas. Don't ask me how I know that."

"I don't care. Your company tells me enough."

"Huh?" I asked with a weird look.

"Enough!" Bowser roared. "I've come for your cohorts. Step aside, pest, or suffer the consequences!"

I could almost hear the battle music playing.

"You'll have to fight us first!" Snake and I both declared as we got into battle stances. Link immediately followed example with his battle stance. He whipped out his bow and readied an arrow aimed at Bowser. Snake brought up his fists, and I brandished the Master Sword (Link refused to take back his sword from me until I obtained some kind of weapon of my own, so I was still using his sword). We were ready to kick his ass. Bowser merely growled at us and showed off his own battle stance as he readied his claws.

"Do you really expect to win when there are three of us and only one of you?" Snake questioned. Bowser simply laughed at that, and then he waved one of his hands. At that gesture he summoned a small army of Goombas, Koopas, and Hammer Bros as well as a false version of himself – you know, a form of Bowser with a purple aura and yellow eyes. Snake was somewhat taken aback at the sudden increase in the numbers on the enemy side. He groaned and muttered, "Me and my big mouth."

"Thanks, Snake," I replied sarcastically. "Let's just take out the troops so that we can deal with both Bowser and his evil…er cousin!" I needed some better lines.

Link didn't hesitate for one second as he made the initiative. He fired his arrows at the front of the enemy line, which took out a few Goombas right away. I charged at the closest Hammer Bros I could hit, swinging the sword as I charged. Two Hammer Bros got hit, but the other one managed to block it. Snake remained at a distance as he fired his missiles at a group of Koopas and Goombas. The missiles eliminated them and sent more enemies flying back from the minor explosions. More Hammer Bros appeared and threw their hammers at Snake, but Link sent them flying back with the Gale Boomerang, knocking them out.

I continued slashing at Goombas and Koopas until I made my way back towards False Bowser, and I gave him the 'bring it on' stance. False Bowser roared at me, and we engaged in a one-on-one fight. Seeing this, Link jumped over the enemy formation and attacked them from the other side in order to prevent the troops from ambushing me while I was preoccupied with a stronger enemy combatant. He threw bomb after bomb into groups of Koopas and Hammer Bros until a few remained. Snake considered it safe to enter the fray, so he charged head-on into Goombas and kicked them hard, and he followed up by throwing more Goombas into the Koopas and off the cliff. Link kicked the remaining Hammer Bros into the rest of the Goombas, while Snake blasted away the last of the Koopas. Noticing that no more troops remained, Link and Snake proceeded to help me fight False Bowser.

The fight started out pretty rough, to say the least. I couldn't get very close to False Bowser because of his fire attacks. After that he rammed into me, causing me to lose my balance and fall on my face. I quickly got up and returned fire…er…blade. As he attempted to swipe his claws at me, I rolling-dodged around him, and I stabbed his tail into the ground. _I bet that hurt!_ I thought in amusement as soon as False Bowser roared in pain. I pulled out the sword, stepped on his tail, and climbed up his shell, proceeding to sit on his head. False Bowser tried to shake me off while I repeatedly pummeled him with the hilt. After a minute of that he threw me off, but I landed firmly on my feet, ready to strike again. Snake, however, kept me back, allowing Link to throw several bombs at False Bowser. False Bowser caught some of them, but they all exploded on contact, and he dissolved into Shadow Bugs and disappeared.

"Yes, we did it! Oh yeah, we're that awesome!" I jubilated.

"So awesome that we let the real Bowser escape…" Snake sighed. I forgot that the real Bowser was here and that he snuck away while we were busy fending off his troops. Suddenly a stray object hit me and sent me careening several yards towards the castle walls. I didn't hit the wall, but I struck the ground next to it, and since it was sand it cushioned my fall.

"What the hell?! Who did that?!" I yelled in sheer frustration. Link and Snake saw me go flying, and they noticed that Bowser had attacked from above. His troops were merely a distraction so that he could surprise attack us, and it sure worked. Link jumped from the cliff and ran as fast as he possibly could towards me. Snake stayed back and attempted to deal with Bowser as he floated in his flying clown mobile or whatever it was called. Snake tried to throw grenades at Bowser, but Bowser easily dodged them all in his weird aircraft.

"Ha! None for you, Snake!" Bowser yelled. "Now you'll have to watch as I unleash one of my strongest weapons, and I think I'll aim it at…you!" At his words he pulled out a giant gun-like thing known as the Dark Cannon, but he didn't aim it at Snake; instead he pointed the huge cannon at me! At that moment Link had arrived at my side and stood firmly between my impending doom and myself. He must have known that this was going to occur; otherwise he would have directly confronted Bowser along with Snake. Just as Bowser was charging up a powerful blast from the Dark Cannon, I heard another voice speak, one that wasn't quite familiar.

"I'm here for you!" the normally silent Link cried to me. _Did he just speak?_ I thought, rather confused and surprised. I guessed at first that I was just hearing things, but then I confirmed the reality of his words by the fact that his head was turned to the side, allowing me to see his lips moving along with the sound of his words. I suddenly felt more motivated by that, so I smiled. He returned a smile and then turned to face Bowser again. At that point Bowser had fully charged the Dark Cannon and fired. Snake could only look on as a black and yellow arrow shot out and sped towards Link and me, but Link firmly stood his ground. He readied his shield in front of him to deflect the arrow, and it looked like it would work—that is, until another stray attack hit Link's right arm from the side, completely knocking the shield out of his hand and sending it flying fifteen feet away, and unfortunately it left him wide open. The arrow was thirty feet away from hitting him when this happened.

"LINK! NO!" I yelled, staring wide-eyed in horror, but it felt in vain. I tried to do something, but it was too late. After he saw his shield get knocked away, Link only had time to look back at the arrow in utter horror, and it hit him square in the center of his chest. It went through him and sent him flying back towards the castle wall in a blinding white light. I could hear a cry of agony from him ringing in my ears before the light dissipated. When I could see again, all that was left in my view was Link's fallen trophy.

"Damn, I missed!" Bowser snarled in annoyance. "But no matter; it worked out for me anyways. I may have missed the sniveling pest of a young lady, but I managed to strike the all-powerful Hylian!" He laughed and proceeded to strike again, but Snake was smarter than that as he shot a missile at the Dark Cannon and destroyed it in his face. Bowser's blackened face scrunched up in anger and looked back at Snake.

"None for you, Bowser," Snake calmly mocked. Bowser was quick to ignore the mockery as he flew towards Link's trophy and me, but I didn't notice him, nor did I care at the moment. I crawled over to Link to make some kind of attempt to reverse everything that just happened in the past few seconds.

"Link! Come on, get up! Say something!" I cried. I continued to make any attempt I could at reviving the fallen Link, and that's when a lump formed in my throat. Clearly I was upset about this, because my swollen throat was an indicator of such an emotion. Tears began to involuntarily fall down my cheeks when I had a realization: I could revive Link by touching the base of his trophy! So I did…but nothing happened. _Damn! Why didn't that work? _I thought, incredibly frustrated, almost angered. Then I noticed that something wasn't right with his trophy: the base was a dull gray color, rather than the typical bronze color of other trophies.

Before I had time to fully register this information, Bowser swooped in over me, carrying some kind of grappling claw. It was similar to Link's Clawshot, but it looked more Koopa-like. He fired it, and a giant Koopa claw shot forward, picked up Link's trophy, and retracted back towards Bowser.

"Gotcha!" Bowser exclaimed as he ripped the claw off the trophy and placed the trophy next to him in his aircraft.

"Bowser! Let go of Link right now, you stupid turtle!" I yelled angrily at him.

"Hmm, let me think about that…no! HA!" Bowser answered. With that he took off into the red sky with the now captured Link, his evil laugh echoing as he flew into the distance. I tried to pursue the aircraft, but something else caught my eye: Snake had arrived at my side, and he was trying to direct my attention towards something behind me. I turned around and saw something that wasn't exactly anything I wanted to see at that moment.

The Ancient Minister appeared with a Subspace Bomb attached to him. He dropped the bomb near us as two R.O.B.s appeared and activated the bomb and its timer. _Oh shit…_ was all I could think as I backed away slowly, and then I saw Link's shield lying near the bomb. I dashed to pick up the Hylian Shield as I saw the Ancient Minister fly away, leaving us to a horrible fate. I quickly turned about face and ran with Link's sword and shield, hoping to get as far away from the inevitable explosion as I could. Snake caught up to me, also trying to get away.

"I have an idea!" Snake yelled to me. He activated Cypher, his mini helicopter-thing, and grabbed onto me by my waist. I was slightly startled by that, but I regained my senses and took hold of one of the handles attached to Cypher as Snake took hold of the other handle. With the Master Sword looped in my belt and the Hylian Shield on my arm, I held onto Snake as he held me, so that neither of us would lose our grip and fall. Soon we were flying higher and higher in the direction of Bowser's aircraft. Way behind us down below, the Subspace Bomb exploded and created a giant sphere of subspace that absorbed the castle and all that was near it, including the two R.. Without even a second glance behind us we continued to follow Bowser, and only one thought was in my mind at that moment: _Don't worry, Link. I promise I'll save you no matter what tries to get in my way. You can be sure of that._

_You can also be sure that I'm going to make sure Snake gets some faster transportation._

Snake and I had been flying for what seemed like hours, although it was only forty-five minutes. My arm was starting to get tired from holding onto Cypher for so long, but I wasn't about to let go, not now. I didn't want to fall to my death, and I had a mission to complete before I could even begin to give up. With Snake's help I had to save Link.

Scenes of the encounter with Bowser and the Ancient Minister continuously played in my head – the battle against Bowser's minions and his fake self, the attack on Link, his lifeless trophy form, the Ancient Minister dropping a Subspace Bomb to detonate – all of it was giving me a headache, and I could think of nothing else, except perhaps of Link's voice, the only thought that was giving me any sort of comfort at the moment.

His voice was nice; it had a ring of determination to it, but it wasn't like any other determined voice I heard. His voice was rather…perfect. Link's voice echoing in my ears seemed like the equivalent of a siren singing to a man's ear, but without the drastically negative effect. His voice was also rather mysterious. It seemed like it had some kind of power I didn't understand. For example, when he stood between Bowser and me, he spoke to me, and the feeling of dread I had beforehand was completely flooded away and replaced by a feeling of optimism. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining; but I do like his voice. Did I mention that it was incredibly sexy? I was about to think more on that, until…

"Uh-oh…" Snake muttered. Cypher was beginning to lose power and run down.

"Not good…" I added. We slowly descended as Cypher powered down, but as soon as it completely shut off, we fell even faster. Fortunately we were falling sideways as well as down, and the ground was not too far below us. We finally hit the ground and skidded on our feet as much as possible before we tumbled and rolled to a stop. We must have skidded a good three hundred feet before we came to a complete stop.

"Ah, we made it down in one peace, Snake," I began with a sigh of relief. "…er…Snake?" He didn't respond right away, so I looked behind me and saw him on his face, holding an inactive Cypher.

"Please put your tray tables up and your seats in the up position. Keep your seat belts fastened until the plane comes to a complete stop. Thank you!" Snake responded, apparently sounding very drunk and dizzy. He then shook his head and regained his senses. I giggled.

"Nice one, Snake!" I told him. He merely gave me a look that seemed to lack any expression, with the exception of a subtle smirk that he could barely hold back. I guessed that he was trying not to laugh. Looking away he put away the now temporarily useless Cypher, stood up, and said, "Until I can get this thing recharged, we'll have to travel by foot." _Aww man, more walking_, I thought before I took in my new surroundings.

We had ended up far away from the abandoned castle and its desert wasteland. This new area seemed more lush and pretty. I could see plenty of trees and green grass, and we were standing near the edge of a lake. The sky was a pretty blue, which meant that the Halberd as well as Bowser and his aircraft were far away from us.

"NO! We lost them!" I yelled, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists in anger. Snake was rather taken aback by my sudden outburst of frustration, and he tried to console me.

"Calm down, er…Brooke. We'll find the Halberd, take Bowser down, and rescue Link. Trust me on this." I merely glared and quickly gave up after peering into his rather dedicated eyes.

"You're right, Snake, I'm sorry," I replied. With a sigh I relaxed my hands and recontrolled my temper. "But how are we going to find them? We don't even know where they went, and we have no leads on their destination." Snake stroked his chin and pondered this point.

"I don't know. But since we don't have a lead, we'll just have to wait until something comes up. In the meantime, you could try and find your friends." He suggested.

"Snake, you're a genius!" I replied as I snapped my fingers. "I'll just do this!" I brushed my hair aside and touched my neck and the tattoo on it, and the visions began again.

This time it started with Jim crawling through an air vent as he followed Zero Suit Samus, and I heard him say, "Is this a good idea, Samus?" He also had the tattoo on his left hand. As I saw him bonk his head on the air vent wall, the scene changed. Kitty and Renee were with Peach and Zelda as they all hid from Subspace enemies. They obviously weren't having fun. Peach suddenly turned into a trophy, and Kitty was grabbed from behind, and as they got dragged away from Renee and Zelda, the scene changed again. I could see Candace again, and she was sitting against a tree, catching her breath. Next to her a few yards away she could see a downed Wolfen, smoking from the damage it must have taken. It was lying near the edge of a lake, and so was-

"Candace!" I cried as my view reverted back to Snake. "She's nearby! Come on, Snake!" I dashed off in the direction of the lake, and Snake immediately followed. I made my way through the trees until I got to the clearing surrounding the lake. To my right I saw smoke rising from the Wolfen, so I ran towards that direction. As soon as I got close, Candace slowly came into my sights.

I grinned in anticipation. "Hey! Candace!" I called as I waved my arms like a psycho and ran to her.

Candace glanced in four other directions before she saw me. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Brooke? YO, BROOKE!" She called back exuberantly and with a smile. I finally reached her and knelt next to her.

"Are you okay, Candace? You're not hurt or anything, are you?" I questioned.

"No…I'm just…really…exhausted…" She breathed heavily. It took a few seconds for her to finally catch her breath, and then she added, "I landed on top of the Wolfen when we got here, and boy was he not happy. He flipped me off his jet and to the ground where he then decided to fire his lasers at me, so I ran as fast and as far away from him as I could, but he still kept chasing me. He wouldn't leave me alone!"

"I'm guessing he as in Wolf, right?" Snake asked us. Just as he said that, we all heard a noise coming from the Wolfen. A blurred figure whipped out some kind of gun and shot lasers at Candace. She yelped and crawled behind the tree. The figure then charged at us and further tried to attack Candace—until I blocked his kick with the Hylian Shield. Yep, it was Wolf all right. He backed off slightly, but he kept his offensive stance.

"Wolf! What the hell are you doing trying to attack my friend, Candace?!" I yelled at him.

"Why do you care?" he questioned back. "That girl hit my jet, and she kept attacking it. So I tried to get her off, but she wouldn't let go until I flipped. I got pretty mad, so I fired my lasers to get rid of her, but she wouldn't keep still. Now I'm gonna make her pay!" That was a bad thing for him to say. I was about to unleash the Master Sword on him when Snake tapped my shoulder.

"Hey Brooke, let me handle this guy. You stay back and watch her." He pointed a finger at Candace. I figured that Candace needed my company at the moment, so I permitted and replied to him, "Okay then, you can have him." I walked over to Candace to tend to her while Snake nodded and stepped towards Wolf.

"Well, if it isn't Solid Snake! How have you been?" Wolf mocked and laughed.

"I've been better, and you're about to be worse in like, three seconds." He sneered.

"Is that so? Why don't you prove it and fight me. What's the matter, scared?" Snake didn't take too kindly to that insult, so he brought up his fists, glared at Wolf, and answered, "Bring it!" _Oh fun, and epic battle is about to ensue, and Candace and I get to sit back and watch it! _I mused.

"Ha! We're gonna have fun with this thing!" Wolf mused and readied his claws. Yep, Snake and Wolf were about to engage in a pretty awesome one-on-one battle.


	5. Chapter 5: The Showdown

Chapter 5: The Showdown

Candace and I were sitting against a tree that stood near the middle of a one-on-one battle that was about to begin. Snake versus Wolf - who would win? They both silently showed off their battle stances. Wolf flashed his claws while Snake raised his fists. It seemed like now wasn't exactly the best time to have a fight, but then again Wolf was trying to attack Candace again, and Snake had to show him up and fend him off. Also, Candace and I didn't really care, because we had the luxury to simply watch the fight rather than enter the fight ourselves.

I checked to make sure that Candace didn't sustain any major wounds – which she didn't, and I noticed that, like the others I saw, Candace also had the Smash Bros. tattoo, and hers was printed above her left ankle. I began to question her, "Candace, have you noticed that tattoo on your ankle?"

"Wait, what tattoo?" She replied with a baffled expression. I pointed to her left ankle and showed it to her. She exclaimed, "Whoa! I do have a tattoo! How did that get there?"

"No clue…all I do know is that if you touch it, you will see visions of our other friends, since they all have the same tattoo, including me."

"Okay, I get it…wait, they're here, too? Ow!" I assumed that she noticed the acute pain that came from the tattoo. I somewhat ignored her and looked back at Snake and Wolf. They didn't move for almost two minutes, nor did they speak. They just stared at each other.

"Are they gonna start fighting or what?" Candace asked, rather annoyed. She must have given the cue to start, since Wolf whipped out his blaster and fired it at Snake. The laser barely missed and went past his ear as Snake sidestepped. Snake retaliated by shooting a missile at Wolf. Wolf, however, put up his reflector shield and sent the missile back at Snake, who in turn dodged it and its explosion.

"Is that the best you've got?" Wolf mocked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Wolf," Snake responded with a smirk. The two of them charged at each other, but Snake seemed to drop something into the ground as he dashed, and Wolf didn't seem to notice. Snake managed to dive into Wolf and knock him back a few feet, but he recovered quickly. Before he could react, Snake threw in a few one-two punches in Wolf's face. Snake, however, took a couple claw attacks before he could do anything else. When Snake tried to kick Wolf, Wolf blocked it, and when Wolf tried to slash Snake, Snake dodged it.

The battle continued on like this for quite some time, and Candace and I were beginning to get bored. So we started another conversation amongst ourselves. Since Candace already explained her situation to me, I told her the story of what happened to me between the vortex and now. I recalled the Primids, Bowser, the Ancient Minster, Snake and Link, etc.

"So let me get this straight, Brooke," Candace began. "You got your ass kicked by purple things, and then it got saved by Link. Soon after that, Snake saved your ass again, and then Bowser kicked it again. That's when Link got swiped, the robots ruined your day, and now you and Snake are here with the Wolf and me. Is that right?"

I just stared at her for several seconds before I responded, "…er…yeah, that's about it. Hey, is it just about my ass being kicked and saved? I managed to fight off the Primids, Bowser and his minions fairly well. Okay, so the Ancient Minister had to show up and ruin things, but that was the least of my problems. I couldn't even revive Link! I tried everything, but nothing worked. Now Snake and I are trying to save him, but running into you also seems like a fortunate thing to occur. Meanwhile your buddy over there is messing things up for us, so Snake had better win."

"Alright then, if you say so," Candace ended. We both looked back on the battle, and nothing seemed to change. That's when Wolf kicked Snake in the chest, causing him to skid backwards. Snake remained on the ground as he threw grenades at Wolf and the nearby ground. Wolf went around then and shot more lasers at Snake that connected this time. He inched closer to Snake and stood before him, as Snake remained stunned on the ground.

"Looks like I win, army boy," Wolf mocked and chuckled.

"Oh really?" Snake mocked back. Apparently the fight wasn't over. Snake brought out a small black detonator-looking thing and held it tightly in his hand. What Wolf didn't realize was that Snake had planted a C4 remote mine in the ground, and he was standing right over it. Snake smirked and pressed the detonator button. The remote mine exploded under Wolf, sending him flying up and backwards. He hit the ground pretty hard, and that gave Snake time to stand up and use one more attack. He dashed up close and fired his rocket launcher point-blank at Wolf, causing an explosion to erupt right in his face. When the smoke cleared, Snake stood there with his weapon, while Wolf lied motionless on the ground. He had become a trophy.

"Looks like I win, you mutt," Snake teased. With his victory confirmed, Snake put away his launcher and made his way back to us. Candace and I gave him cheers and pats on the back.

"That was awesome, Snake! Way to go!" I exclaimed. Candace quickly cut in and asked, "So Snake, what are you gonna do with him?" She pointed to Wolf's trophy, and we carefully snuck towards him. Snake pondered as he stroked his chin, and then he touched the base of the trophy. A blinding white light flashed, and when it dissipated, Wolf reappeared, lying on the ground.

"Snake, are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked with a tone of doubt. Snake ignored me and picked up Wolf by his spiked jacket. He proceeded to talk some sense into him.

"Alright, you listen to me good," he started. "These young ladies are not to be messed with. They are on our side, or at least mine. And you ought to know that there is a bigger threat out there that intends to destroy us all, so fighting against us is not the best idea. You got that? I'll make you a deal: If you agree to help us with our missions, and if you refrain from attacking the ladies and their friends, I'll refrain from beating you to a pulp again. Am I clear?" Wolf had thought about this for a bit, realizing that crossing Snake would result in him getting his ass kicked again, and he knew that he couldn't win against Snake, especially after that battle.

"Alright, fine, I'll help you guys out," Wolf agreed. "But this had better benefit me somehow. So we have a deal?"

"Indeed we do," Snake confirmed with a smile. He let go of Wolf and allowed him to stand upright, and then the two of them shook hands. Candace and I also beamed, understanding that we had now formed a four-way alliance. All we had to do now was find the others and rescue Link.

Or so we thought. The positive attitude in the air quickly subsided, as we all heard a rumbling coming from the lake.

"Um…what's that?" Candace asked. It seemed like her question was about to be answered, as a giant pillar of water shot up from the center of the lake. When the water rained backed down, a giant green dragon-like creature floated above the lake, and it roared at us. Wolf flinched and asked, "Would anybody like to tell me what that thing is?" As the creature glared at us, I only managed to utter one thing:

"RAYQUAZA!"

* * *

Author's Note: I should probably say this. I'm assuming that all of you know what I'm talking about when I mention these Brawl and Subspace elements, I hope. I'm making this assumption in order to minimize descriptions and keep the plot going smoothly. However, if there is something that you guys don't understand, feel free to ask me. Again, thanks for reading and reviewing! :D


	6. Chapter 6: Hit and Run

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait, guys. College work got in the way again...Anyway, I forgot to make this disclaimer before, so I'll make it now: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except the OCs. The ideas of this story belong to me (90) and Dusky Sweetblood (now known as Besarki) (10). Now, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 6: Hit and Run

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Candace yelled.

"I wish I was, Candace," I replied. "It seems like Rayquaza was disturbed by that last battle, and now it's ticked off!"

"Again, what is that thing and why is it glaring at us like that?" Wolf asked with a hint of annoyance.

"I suggest we kill it and ask questions later," Snake answered him, also rather annoyed. He brought out a grenade launcher, and Wolf whipped out his blaster. They were both ready to fire until I cut in, "Hold on a sec! Candace doesn't have a weapon, and the one I have is rather useless, as long as Rayquaza remains floating above the water."

"Here, catch!" Wolf yelled as he threw another blaster to Candace, who carefully caught it. "It's an extra; go ahead and use it as you please." Candace merely grinned with joy and aimed the blaster at Rayquaza. The beast roared again and prepared an attack. Everyone fired at it (except me, since I didn't have any projectile attacks), but that seemed to only make Rayquaza angrier. It reacted by flying right into Wolf and Snake, knocking them both back twenty feet, and then it flew back to its starting position over the lake. Rayquaza charged some kind of energy attack from its mouth and shot it towards Candace, but I deflected it with the Hylian Shield and sent it back at Rayquaza.

"That was Dragon Pulse!" I exclaimed. "Good thing I have Link's shield handy." My comment must have caught Rayquaza's attention, since it gave me a death glare. It flew towards me and released Iron Tail. I managed to keep my shield up and block the attack, but the sheer force of it knocked me back and away from Candace. She reacted by firing several laser shots at Rayquaza's face, but that seemed to be ineffective. Snake shot a few missiles at it, causing a bit more damage than the laser fire, but Rayquaza looked like it was nowhere near close to being defeated.

Now it really seemed to lose it. With another roar Rayquaza dove into the ground, burrowing underground at it went. We had no idea where it was going to come up, until Wolf noticed the ground bulging under Candace. He dove and grabbed her out of the way of the emerging Pokémon and then kicked it when he got the chance.

"That was close," Wolf said and then yelled. "Snake, I don't think this thing will quit, and there isn't much that we can do to stop it!"

"But there must be something that will—huh?" Snake cut his own statement short as he saw something catch his eye. Near the edge of the lake was a small ditch. Snake saw an object in the ditch, and he walked over to pick it up. It was a round object that was painted red and white with perhaps a hint of blue. It appeared to be a grenade that was designed by the U.S. Army. He examined it for a moment before he yelled back, "Wolf, take those two and run for it! I'll catch up with you later!"

"But Snake—" I began before Wolf grabbed Candace and me by our wrists and took off. The three of us ran towards a tangle of trees far from the battle site.

"I don't know what this is, but I hope it works," Snake muttered. He chucked the grenade-looking thing at Rayquaza. That was the last thing I saw before we continued into the trees. As we ran, Candace asked Wolf, "Hey, where exactly are we going?"

"I don't know exactly where we're headed, but wherever we end up, we'll be far away from that angry dragon!" he answered.

"But what about Snake? We can't just leave him behind!" I cut in.

"Don't worry about him; he's fine, and he'll catch up with us soon enough. Right now, we need to get to someplace safe." I nodded and ran faster. _I hope Wolf is right about that_,I thought, rather worried. _I already lost Link. I don't need to lose Snake as well. _

We kept running for a long time until we made our way to a ruined memorial site. We figured that this would be a good place to rest, so we stopped here to catch our breaths. There wasn't much that we could do besides wait for Snake, so in the meantime we engaged in a few conversations. Wolf was the first to speak, and he asked about the 'bigger threat' that Snake had mentioned before. Candace didn't know much about it, so I answered him.

"You see," I began. "Somewhere out there is an entity bigger than all of us that threatens to destroy this world, and whatever it is, it's doing so by commanding enemies that are part of what is called the Subspace Army. Not only that, but it has enlisted some help from villains like Bowser and Wario. Their job is to collect the trophies of the fighters that could potentially get in the way of their evil plans. Am I making sense to you?"

"I guess so. But what about that green thing?" Wolf asked.

"You mean Rayquaza? I think that it is one of the bosses of the Subspace Army that this entity has sent to destroy us. Oh, and have you noticed those giant purple spheres in various areas?" Wolf nodded and let me continue. "That's Subspace. It's a different dimension of law-breaking proportions, and it's the main way that this world is supposed to be destroyed. It's a good idea to not get caught in that sphere. I'll explain more later, but first there is something I need to ask Candace." Wolf nodded again and put his arms behind his back to lie down and relax.

"What did you want to ask me?" Candace questioned me.

"Well, I wanted to find out if you knew anything about the whereabouts of our friends."

"Not really. How should I know?"

"Remember that tattoo I showed you? Try touching it and see what happens." Candace touched the tattoo above her left ankle, and her expression became vacant and wide-eyed. At the same time a twinge of pain came from my tattoo that caused me to wince. Wolf noticed and asked me why I was slightly in pain.

"My theory is that anytime one of us touches this tattoo," I started. I showed him the tattoo on the back of my neck before I continued, "then everyone else who has the tattoo feels a slight bit of pain from it. It must be an indicator that someone is seeing the rest of us from far away." I turned back towards Candace as she blinked and looked at me.

"Okay, now tell us everything you just saw," I demanded her.

"Well, I saw Jess and Kayla traveling with Ike and Marth. Jess was trying to talk to Ike, but all he kept saying was 'I fight for my friends.' Marth was only speaking Japanese, so Kayla was having trouble translating his words. They all encountered some weird machine thing that was attacking them. They fought back, but Marth ended up turning into a trophy, and Kayla was sent flying far away and into the sky. Then the scene changed."

"That isn't good. What else did you see?"

"Jim and Will managed to find each other, and they were fighting some crazy flying purple dragon thing. Kirby and Samus were with them, and they seemed to be faring well against that thing. The scene changed again, and I saw Lex with Lucario. They encountered Wario, who had possession of a Pikachu trophy. They battled him and defeated him, but the Pikachu trophy disappeared. That's about it."

"Okay, that just sucks. Do you know where any of them were?"

"I think Lex was near the foot of an iced-over mountain, while Jim and Will were in some underground building. I don't know about Jess or Kayla."

"Oh well, it's a good start. So Jim and Will battled Ridley, while Jess and Kayla battled…I think it was Galleom. So you saw nothing of Renee or Kitty?"

"Nope," she answered and shook her head.

"I guess it's my turn," I replied. I touched the tattoo on my neck and froze.

The vision started with Renee and Zelda getting away from the Ancient Minister. It had released a Subspace Bomb that was about to explode at any moment. At the same time they saw the Battleship Halberd, and they were chasing after it to no avail. The scene changed, and I saw Kayla lying face down on…clouds? I guessed that she ended up in Skyworld, since Pit had found her and flew towards her. He tried to wake her up when the scene changed again. This time Kitty was locked inside some kind of cage that was being rolled into another room by some Primids. She kept yelling 'Let me out!' but the Primids ignored her. The vision ended and my view reverted back to normal.

"Are you done yet, 'cause I just felt a pain on my ankle." Candace asked impatiently. I looked at her and nodded. I thought that my theory was correct and that everyone feels pain on his or her tattoos if someone touches the tattoo. She continued, "So what did you see?"

"First I saw Renee with Zelda, and they were getting away from the Ancient Minister while they chased the Halberd. Meanwhile Kayla ended up in Skyworld, and Pit found her. Also, Kitty was inside a cage in a dark room. I think she got captured by the Subspace Army."

"What?! That can't be! Our Kitty got captured by those freaks?" Candace was apparently not too happy about my response.

"Yeah," I sighed. "But don't worry, we'll get her back." _Along with Link_, I added to myself. Wolf sat up and interrupted, "Well, we won't be rescuing anybody if we keep sitting here and talking."

"I know that," I uttered rather impolitely. "But we can't go anywhere until Snake meets up with us."

"You called?" a voice asked. We all turned in the direction of the voice, and surely enough, Snake was standing there with a smirk on his goateed face.

"Snake! Oh good, you made it here in one piece." I announced. Candace remarked, "It took you long enough to get here. So how did you beat Rayquaza?" Snake raised an eyebrow and pondered that question. After a few seconds he replied, "I'm not sure if I did." That got everyone's attention, including that of Wolf.

"What?" Wolf questioned. "What do you mean you're not sure? You either did or you didn't, and judging by the fact that you're here in one piece, I'd say that you did beat it."

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Snake replied as he brought out the grenade-looking thing from before. "I think this grenade is defective. As soon as I chucked it at Rayquaza, that dragon disappeared in a red light. All that was left was this grenade that apparently didn't explode."

"Are you sure? Let me see that," I said as I took the grenade thing from Snake's hand. I examined it a bit, and then my eyes greatly widened when I realized what it actually was. I then yelled, "Snake, you idiot! This isn't a grenade; it's a Pokéball!" Snake flinched at my raised voice. I threw the Pokéball, and out came Rayquaza. This time it remained calm and obedient. I yelled at Snake again, "YOU CAUGHT RAYQUAZA?!"

"Whoa, calm down, Brooke!" Candace calmly told me. I calmed myself with a facepalm and then looked at Rayquaza. I commented, "I wish you would've told us before. But whatever, at least now Rayquaza is on our side, right?"

"I guess so," Candace responded. "Well now that we're all together and we have an awesome Pokémon in our arsenal, where shall we go next?" I took a minute to think about that and then suggested, "Since Rayquaza can fly, that means we can have it take us to Skyworld. We should be able to find Kayla there. What do you say?" She exclaimed, "I say let's go!"

"Well then, Snake, you can give it the command, since Rayquaza is under your control." Snake raised his eyebrow again, but I gave him a look of reassurance.

"Er…okay. Rayquaza, can you give us a lift?" He asked it. Rayquaza gave a low roar and lowered itself to the ground so that we could climb on. Everyone got on it, even the ever-so-hesitant Wolf.

"Okay, everyone hold on tightly!" I yelled to the others. "TO SKYWORLD!" Rayquaza roared again and lifted itself off the ground. It then took off with the four of us in tow towards the blue and pink sky above us.


	7. Chapter 7: Above the Clouds, Beneath the

Author's Note: Okay, before I get started, I'll briefly describe the OC's: Most of them are 17 years old; Brooke and Candace are 18, and Kayla is 19. So some of you have brought up the point of having nine OCs, and you may think that's a bit much. However, only a few of them play a major role in the story, and all of them will be incorporated into the plot way later.

* * *

Chapter 7: Above the Clouds, Beneath the Surface

When Rayquaza flew high enough, we cut through the blanket of clouds that covered about half of the sky. It sure was a sight to behold, since the sky was clear and bright, and the clouds radiated a sense of comfort with their pink hues. That sight didn't last long, however, as we saw something else in the clouds: purple sheets of Shadow Bugs were covering some clouds ahead of us in the distance, and they were forming into Primids. They began to surround something, but we couldn't tell exactly what that something was, since we were too far away.

"Those Primids don't look too friendly," Wolf commented.

"I know," I replied. "Let's try to sneak up on them and get a closer look at what's going on." I gave a gesture to Snake, who issued the command to Rayquaza. It flew slowly and stealth-like towards the Primids. Apparently they had no idea we were there. We got close enough to see everything better, but we maintained our distance in order to not raise any awareness of our presence.

Suddenly we all saw a bright light that took the form of an extremely quick slash. A bunch of Primids were just sliced in half by God knows what. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at who or what was responsible for the slash, and I noticed that it was…Pit! He was with Kayla, but she didn't have a weapon, so he had to do all of the fighting; with the exception of a few kicks and chops that she learned back in her karate days.

"Hey, it's Kayla!" Candace exclaimed. Apparently she was the last one to notice this, since everyone else had pointed out the angel with the twin swords. "Should we go and help her?"

"Not yet," Snake answered. "Let's see how the two of them fare by themselves. If they end up in big trouble, then we'll intervene." Candace just gave Snake an annoyed face when he wasn't looking, but there wasn't anything she could do to change his mind. After all, he was the one who controlled Rayquaza. Since the rest of us agreed with him, we kept our distance from the battle.

So far, Pit and Kayla were doing just fine, fending off most of the Primids. They were either getting cut up and pierced by arrows and swords, or they were getting beatings from kicks and chops. However, the army of Primids was not shrinking. Reinforcements kept appearing and taking the places of the fallen troops. Now Kayla and Pit were completely surrounded, and it seemed like they were overwhelmed. They tried to fight them off, but the Primids kept closing in on them.

"Okay, _now_ we intervene!" Wolf cried. Snake nodded and issued another command to Rayquaza. It flew closer this time and it fired a Dragon Pulse attack at the Primids. The harsh blow of the attack eradicated more than half of the Primids, and those that remained turned their attention towards us. Pit and Kayla also became aware of our presence.

"Hey Kayla!" I cried and waved to her. "It looks like you could use a hand!" Kayla just beamed when she saw Candace and me. Rayquaza flew even closer to allow Snake and Wolf to get off and kill the remaining Primids. When everything was calm, we all gathered together with a unanimous sigh of relief. Candace then started, "It's a good thing we found you guys up here."

"It sure is, but how did you know I was up here?" Kayla inquired.

"She saw you with her tattoo-thingy," Candace replied, pointing at me. Kayla apparently had no idea what she was talking about, so Candace added, "It supposedly lets her see visions of us. I can do it, too!" I lifted my hair and showed Kayla the tattoo on my neck, and then I said, "You should have it as well, right?"

"Yeah, right here," she responded. "Is that was this thing is for?" She lifted her pant-leg and revealed the same red Smash Bros. tattoo that was branded above her right ankle. Candace nodded and waved to Pit with a 'hi!' We greeted each other and made our introductions, and then Kayla spoke up.

"Wait a minute; has anyone seen Marth?" she asked, looking confused. Most of us shook our heads, except me, and I answered, "I didn't see him in person, but one of my visions showed me that you were sent flying and that he was turned into a trophy."

"He WHAT?!" she yelled, but Candace tried to keep her calm.

"Yeah, Marth was defeated and turned into a trophy, so I think the Subspace Army captured him. Also, the two of you got separated from Jess and Ike, am I right?" Kayla nodded and looked ready to break down in tears, but Candace yet again tried to console her.

"Don't worry, Kayla," she started. "We're going to find Jess and Ike, and then we'll rescue Marth. Right guys?" She turned to look at us, and we all nodded.

"She's right," I confirmed. "Listen, I was with Link earlier, and the Subspace Army captured him as well. As upset as I may be by this, I'm also confident that I can save him, especially with the help of all of you guys." Kayla seemed to notice that I had possession of Link's Master Sword and Hylian Shield, and her face expressed motivation with a slight bit of envy, perhaps because of the fact that I had a weapon and she didn't.

"Okay, now that we found more friends, what is our next plan of attack?" Wolf interjected. At that moment a roar of engines could be heard in the distance. Ahead of us the Battleship Halberd appeared above the clouds, flying away from us. Everyone's attention turned towards the flying machine, and Kayla spoke up again.

"That must be the Halberd. Do you think Link and Marth are inside?"

"I'm pretty sure, for the most part," I answered as I glared at the Halberd. "Rayquaza should be able to get us close enough to infiltrate the Halberd, and we'll go from there." Without a word everyone climbed on the giant Pokémon, except for Kayla and Pit, who seemed to be hesitant.

"Hop on, Kayla!" Candace cried. "Pit can fly alongside us. He does have wings, after all." Kayla sighed and joined us. Pit and Rayquaza took off, speeding towards the Halberd. When we got close, its defense systems activated and began to attack us. However, we were too fast for the laser fire, and we all bypassed the defenses. Pit landed gracefully on the bridge of the Halberd while the rest of us landed rather roughly. Rayquaza continued to dodge the defenses, until the claw extended itself and grazed it on the side, sending the Pokémon tumbling.

"Hurry, Snake!" I cried. "Call back Rayquaza before it really gets hurt! Point the Pokéball at it and say 'Rayquaza, return!'" Snake did so, and the dragon Pokémon disappeared in a red light back into its Pokéball, now safe from further harm. I sighed with relief and turned to face everyone else.

"Alright then, we're goin' in," Wolf announced. We nodded and proceeded to follow him into the interior of the Halberd, hoping that we wouldn't raise too much alarm.

We managed to get inside of the Halberd without too much trouble, with the exception of Candace tripping and falling on her face. We all rushed to keep her quiet while we held back the urge to panic, while Kayla was trying not to laugh. As we crept along the dark hallways as quietly as possible, we encountered a fork in the hallway. Two new hallways led in opposite directions, and neither seemed to be inviting nor foreboding. Since we had no idea where either hall would lead us, I quickly came up with a plan.

"Okay, I have an idea. We'll be able to cover more ground if we split up. Kayla, you take Wolf and Pit down that hallway. Candace, you and Snake come with me down this hallway. Remember, we're looking for either enemy bosses like Bowser or captured allies. If anyone finds Link, let me know, because only I can revive him; long story. Oh, and if any enemies find you, then…just beat the shit out of them. Got it?"

"Got it!" Everyone answered. Kayla, Wolf, and Pit ran off into the west wing hallway, while Snake, Candace, and I ran off into the east wing hallway. As we went along, I saw a Beam Sword resting on a shelf along the wall. I stopped to grab it and pocketed it. _I'm going to need this for later_, I thought.

The three of us continued to trek along, killing enemies along the way, until we made our way to another hallway that led to a giant room. This room didn't seem very Halberd-like; it must have been a new addition to the airship. It was bright, and it featured metallic walls and an upper balcony. Two other doors stood there – one at the balcony, and one below it. I rushed ahead of the others into the room, when suddenly a set of bars came down at the entrance behind me and latched into place. I got cut off from Candace and Snake!

"What's going on?!" Candace yelped. "We're stuck, and Brooke is trapped on the other side!" _Way to answer your own question, Candace_, I told myself as I rolled my eyes. Suddenly I heard a maniacal laugh, and I looked around in panic, searching for the source of the voice. I realized that the voice was coming from the P.A. system within the Halberd. The voice began to speak.

"I'm glad to see that you arrived, although I'm rather surprised that you made it this far."

"Who are you?" I yelled. "Show yourself!"

"Haha, that won't be necessary at the moment. I'll reveal myself in due time. However, you should already know who I am, Brooke." From behind me, I could hear small explosions at the entrance. Apparently Snake was trying to blast the bars away and open up the entrance.

"Try all you want, Snake," the voice said. "But those bars are resistant to everything, including explosives." Clearly those bars were designed to keep me separated from my friends, and whoever this speaker was only wanted me. I glared ahead of me at nothing as the voice continued.

"I see that you now wield the Master Sword and Hylian Shield. I'd like those back now." I paled at that last sentence, and my eyes grew wide.

"Hold up! What do you mean you want them back? They don't belong to you!"

"On the contrary, they do. I did let you borrow my sword, and you took my shield, remember?" At first I didn't recognize the owner of this voice, but for some reason it hit me. I gasped and then cried, "Link, is that really you?"

"Ah, now you're catching on. Your memory serves you well." I heard Candace shout, "Whoa! I didn't know that Link could talk!" Snake immediately tried to shut her up so that he could keep listening in on what this person was saying via the P.A.

A great mix of emotions coursed through me. I didn't know if I was supposed to feel relief, shock, excitement, confusion, anger, or doubt. Something about this situation wasn't right, but I went on, questioning this voice that claimed to be Link.

"But that doesn't make any sense! The Subspace Army captured you—I mean, Link! How-?"

"How do you know that I was actually captured? I was released from my trophy form, and I remained here. The capture itself was merely a ploy to lead you here, and I do mean you, Brooke. Your friends weren't exactly supposed to be involved, but that doesn't matter anymore."

"A ploy? Why would you do that?"

"You don't get it, do you? The second I laid my eyes upon you, I knew that you would be of great use for my plans. So I fought off the Primids, I healed your wounds, and I helped you chase the Halberd. When we encountered Bowser, I knew that everything was going according to plan. Bowser would attack and capture me, and you would be driven to save me. And now you're here on this fine airship, where we interact once again." I didn't want to believe anything that he was saying, but I didn't have much evidence of the contrary. I started.

"If that's the case, then that means…"

"Just face it, Brooke! I never cared about you. I only pretended to show you kindness so that you would fall for my devious plan. I could have let you die by the hands of the Subspace Army, but I wanted the pleasure of destroying you myself. And to think, a foolish young woman such as you befriended me. I was beginning to think that you even developed greater feelings for me…how sad." He laughed maniacally again when Candace rudely interrupted.

"You sick, twisted, evil SON OF A BITCH! I knew there was something f***** up about you, but I can't believe you would do something as horrible as this to one of my friends!" Snake immediately interjected and tried to shut her up again.

"Hang on a minute," he whispered to her. "This is just a game. That's not really Link who is speaking to her. Someone else must be pretending to be him in order to mentally break her. That way her defense will be diminished, and she will be destroyed."

"You really think so?" Candace asked. Snake nodded and she continued with a whisper, "Well, I hope that she realizes that in time. It looks like he's already beginning to get to her."

Everything that Link had just said to me echoed painfully in my ears. I could do nothing but stand there and stare. I dropped to my knees and held my head with both hands. My body began to violently shake, and my eyes flooded with tears. Visions of Link flashed in my mind, and negative emotions coursed through me again as I tried to make sense of everything that was just explained.

_This can't be right_, I thought. _How could he do something like this to me? Why would he ever do that? I put my entire trust and confidence in him, and he betrayed me! I can't believe how stupid I am! Wait…the real Link would never do something like this, especially to me. He's the Hero of Time, and he wields the 'blade of evil's bane.' Snake's right. This isn't really Link. It's just someone else impersonating him to mess with my mind. I just have to remember that and stand up to this jerk. _

A new emotion rushed through my veins: rage! I slowly stood up while my body still violently shook, and I wiped away the tears that I had shed. I looked up at the person that wasn't actually standing there, and I gave him a death glare.

"I…will not…" I began. "…let you…break me! You're not really Link, so stop trying to be him and reveal yourself to me…NOW!"

"You're still in denial, eh?" he sighed. "Tsk tsk. Fine, I guess I will have to finally show myself to you and kill you!" The double doors below the balcony suddenly opened up. I peered inside, and I saw a tall, dark figure standing there. He stepped out of the shadows and brandished his weapon, and when I got a better look at him, my eyes grew wide yet again.

"Brooke, what is it?" Candace yelled to me.

"Oh my God…it is Link!"


	8. Chapter 8: I Fight For My Friends!

Chapter 8: I Fight For My Friends!

I looked back and saw that Kayla and the others arrived to meet up with Candace and Snake, and they had a new ally with them: Marth. They seemed to be successful in rescuing him, so they decided to regroup with us. However, they reached a dead end when they realized that a wall of bars cut off Candace and Snake from me.

"What's with the bars?" Kayla inquired. "And what is going on with Brooke?"

"The enemies designed these bars to cut us off from her." Snake answered.

"Yeah, and apparently now she has to fight her lover…well, not quite." Candace added. Kayla peered beyond the bars to see what Candace had meant, and then she indicated her realization with a gaping mouth.

"What?! She has to fight Link?" Kayla asked, very shocked and bothered by this knowledge.

"Well—yes, but that's not really Link." Snake responded. Kayla gave him a confused look, and he continued, "Can you tell? There is something rather…dark…about him." Kayla looked back at the 'Link' who was standing before me, and she said, "Oh, now I see it. But why does Brooke have to fight him?"

"We're not sure about the reason, but—" he started, before Wolf interrupted him, "Well, whatever the reason may be, this should be an interesting battle, nonetheless." That was probably not the answer that she wanted to hear. Her face contorted into one of frustration.

"Wait a minute! We're not just going to stand here and let her get killed, are we?" Kayla yelled at Wolf.

"Kayla, calm down!" Candace cut in. "We've already tried destroying these bars, and nothing has worked, so we can't get past them. Besides, Brooke can handle herself. She has successfully fought off more than we can imagine, and she has Link's sword and shield; that ought to help her." Marth said something in Japanese to Kayla to further confirm Candace's message, and after a moment Kayla nodded and muttered, "Good luck, Brooke."

I looked back at 'Link' and glared at him. Snake was right; there was something very dark about him. In fact, the swordsman standing before me was Dark Link!

"I was right!" I yelled as a stared into his glowing red eyes. "You're not really Link!" He laughed and said, "Yes, how observant of you."

"So why did you decide to mess with me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"As a matter of fact, I have a reason for this. My superiors merely instructed me to destroy those who are against us. They gave me details on certain targets, and when I heard about you, I decided to set you at the top of my hit list. What I did moments ago was purely for personal pleasure. However, no more games. Now is the time that I become serious and really destroy you."

"Oh? And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"It's simple, really. You and I will duel to the death, and the winner will be rewarded graciously." He chuckled.

"Oh, good. I like the sound of rewards." I said with a smirk as I brandished my sword and shield.

"Hm, you're a confident young woman, aren't you?" he commented as he raised his weapons and assumed his battle stance. "It will be even more fun defeating you." I assumed my own battle stance opposite him as we locked eye contact. I knew that this was going to be a long and painful duel, but I also knew that the reward would be worth it, assuming that it was what I thought it to be. However, there seemed to be a problem: we were almost evenly matched. Both of us wielded the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, so the only deciding factor of this duel would be our respective fighting styles. I just hoped that mine would be the better of the two.

Random battle music began to play throughout the room, and neither of us seemed to move for a few moments, until Dark Link made the first move. He made no hesitation in attempting to deliver the first deadly blow, but I was too fast for him as I put up my shield to block his slash. His backed off ever so slightly and tried again. This time he swung his sword vertically, but I rolled out of the way before I was sliced in half. I took advantage of my momentum to get behind him, and then I kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall on his face. He probably wasn't too happy about that, since I heard a low, muffled growl coming from him. I stood up and raised my sword, ready to drive it into his back, but he rolled aside in time, and I drove it into the floor instead.

_Damnit! I was so close!_ I yelled in my head. As I pulled my blade out of the metal floor, I noticed a round object rolling to my feet. Unfortunately it was a bomb, and it was about to explode! I managed to jump away before the resulting explosion could take off one of my limbs. I looked up just in time to see Dark Link fire an arrow at me. I couldn't move in time, however, and the arrow grazed my left arm and opened up a shallow cut.

"So, you're playing the distance game, eh?" I sneered at him, slightly wincing in pain. He just answered with a smirk as he readied another arrow. "Let's see how you like this!" I dodged the next arrow that he shot, and I zigzagged around the room towards him to throw him off. I managed to get close enough so that he could no longer use his projectile attacks and I slashed at him, but he put up his own shield to block me. I swung again at his legs, but he jumped and back flipped over the blade.

From the entrance I could hear cheers from my friends. I heard them say things like "You can do it!" and "Go Brooke!" Even Snake and Pit were joining in on the cheers. Marth and Wolf, however, restrained themselves and decided to closely observe the flow of the battle instead. I think I even heard Candace telling them that they were ruining all the fun, but she got no answer.

Anyway, the battle continued on as pretty much a stalemate. If I decided to attack, Dark Link would block me. If he attacked, then I was forced to block or dodge him. However, there was one point when both our blades clashed together with the sound of clanging metal ringing throughout the room. Yep, it was another stalemate. We both glared at each other as we attempted to push each other back.

"Well, since we're stuck here in a stalemate, would you mind telling me exactly what's at stake?" I asked as I pushed back Dark Link.

"I thought it was rather obvious, but I'll tell you anyway," he replied as he pushed me back. Wow, I hadn't expected him to take me seriously. "If I defeat you, I get the honor of seizing your friends and taking them back to my superiors, where they will personally destroy them. That means that my efforts will be rewarded generously."

"Oh really? And what do I get if I win?" Neither one of us seemed to give in for very long as we spent the next few minutes pushing each other back and forth against each other's blades.

"If you win, I'll let you and your friends go, and I will even reveal to you the location of my heroic counterpart." I wasn't expecting that answer, and my eyes widened upon hearing it.

"Wait, how do you know where Link is?"

"I have my sources," he said with a smirk. He pushed me back again, and I backed off. Suddenly Dark Link disappeared. I looked frantically around the room, trying to find him, but he was nowhere in sight. Without warning, he reappeared behind me and put his blade to my throat. I cursed to myself as I realized that I was stuck. I heard Dark Link chuckling in my ear.

"It looks like I win," he mocked. I thought I was done for, until a light bulb sparked in my brain, and I said, "Oh really?" I flashed a grin and stepped on his foot with as much force as possible. He yelped and backed off me, clutching his foot in pain. I took advantage of his vulnerability by unleashing a barrage of attacks on him. First I decked him in the face with my shield, and he clutched his head in pain. When he turned around, I slashed his back, opening up a large cut and causing him to wail in further pain. He turned around again, and I finished him with a knee to the gut, and he reacted only with a stifled yell of more pain. That's a lot of pain…I could hear loud cheers from my friends, declaring my victory.

He fell backwards and lay motionless, with the exception of a few struggles to get up and maintain consciousness. I walked towards him and stepped on his chest with one leg, while the other leg knelt down. I grabbed his collar with one hand, raising him up slightly, and with the other hand I put the Master Sword to his throat.

"You were saying about winning?" I mocked. "I think I'm the victor, and you have some explaining to do." Dark Link growled while he struggled to remain conscious.

"Like what?" he sneered. "I don't owe you any explanations. You haven't defeated me yet."

"Face it; it's over, and I won. Now tell me where Link is…TELL ME!" He looked like he was going to fight me off, but he gave up on that. With the last bit of strength he had, Dark Link pointed to a set of doors above us and to our right, and he responded, "He is beyond those doors on the upper balcony. Take this – you'll need it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard, and with one last glare he slipped out of consciousness.

I took the keycard from his motionless hand. _Hmm, there is probably some more stuff on his person that I could use_, I thought. I rummaged through his pockets, looking for anything that might have been useful. _Ohh, a Clawshot! I can have some fun with this!_ I took the Clawshot and stood up. I was about to go back to my friends when a thought entered my head. I turned back to Dark Link and raised my blade above his chest. _Just to be sure…_ I drove the blade into his chest, and in a flash of light he turned into a trophy.

Satisfied with my victory I put away my sword and shield and walked over to my friends who attempted to high-five me through the bars of the entrance. Kayla cried, "Wow, that was awesome, Brooke! You sure showed him who is boss!"

"Hey, these bars are still in our way," Wolf interrupted. "How are we going to get rid of them?" He made a good point: The bars were still cutting me off from the others, and not even Snake's explosives could destroy them. None of us knew what to do, until Pit got an idea.

"If Brooke goes through those upper doors, do you think that these bars will go away after that?" he suggested. It seemed like a weird idea, but it was the only one we had at the moment.

"I guess so," Candace answered him. "Brooke, why don't you try it? We'll wait here for you when you come back." I nodded and said, "Okay, it's worth a shot. I'll be back in a few." The others nodded as I walked towards the upper balcony. I used the Clawshot to grapple onto the balcony railing, and the retracting chain lifted me up. I climbed over the railing and stood in front of the double doors. I swiped the keycard and the doors opened, revealing a long hallway. I stepped through the doors, and they closed behind me.

Finally, everything that I was trying to reach, everything that has motivated me to fight for the greater good, was within my grasp.

* * *

Author's Note: Oh wow, two chapters in one night? You guys must think I'm crazy!

I'm wondering how many of you thought that Ike was going to appear in this chapter...FOOLED YOU! XD But worry not, he will make a grand entrance later on. Also, I noticed that upon posting Chapter 7, this story received over 500 hits!! I really appreciate the support from you guys, thanks!! :-D


	9. Chapter 9: Prison Break

Chapter 9: Prison Break

I stood motionlessly at one end of a hallway that seemed to extend almost infinitely. After a moment, I took a step forward and began to carefully tread down the hall. The silence was somehow deafening, unpleasant. I could hear my footsteps echoing through the walls and the sound of my breathing floating forbiddingly around me. It was way too quiet for my liking. Against my better judgment, though, I ignored my instincts and kept walking, choosing to focus on how gigantic the corridor was rather than the bleak atmosphere.

_I know that the Halberd is ridiculously huge, but it can't extend forever!_ I thought impatiently. _There must be an end somewhere!_ I grunted in annoyance. How big could a ship possibly be? _God, what I wouldn't do for an exit right about now. _And then right on cue, the door appeared. Odd that everything in this world seems to occur on cue. I rolled my eyes and looked to the exit.

Another set of double doors and a keycard slider on the side marked the end of the hallway. I sighed, wishing that I had been more specific in my impatient musings.

As I swiped the keycard, I absentmindedly reached for the hilt of my blade, thinking that there could possibly be a trap on the other side. The double doors opened for me, but, oddly enough, nothing jumped out or shot or fired at me. All was quiet, except for the faint sound of flowing…electricity? My head snapped up automatically. What I saw straight ahead of me made me gasp in astonishment, my eyes wide.

It was Link! Link! Link, Link, Link! I couldn't believe it!

A wide range of expressions appeared on my face – excitement, shock, confusion – as my eyes took in the sight before me. I was glad to see Link, but not like this: not only was he trapped in his trophy form, but he was also shackled and locked inside a small cell with bars that were made of electricity!

I ran up to the cell, getting as close to it as possible without being electrocuted by the bars. I noticed that to the right of the cell was a keycard slider and keypad combination on the wall. _What? A keypad? I'm not good at cracking passwords!_ I hissed in frustration.

I looked into the eyes of the motionless trophy standing before me, gazing at them as if they would reveal an answer—a truth I couldn't see.

I scrunched my own eyes in deep concentration. After a moment, they trailed downward absently to the Hylian's hands.

And then I knew.

While Link's lifeless eyes didn't give me a password, they did cause me to realize something from before: the reason that I couldn't revive Link in the first place. The base of the trophy was a dull gray, rather than a gleaming bronze typical of other trophies—missing its color like it was missing its sword and shield. I took a shot in the dark and guessed that a trophy could not be restored unless it was whole. Any missing part would render it completely lifeless, and hence the gray base.

"Link…" I thought aloud. "I'm not sure if you can hear or see me, but I'm here now, and I'll get you out of this mess." I wasn't sure if trophies were aware of the surrounding area or events that occurred in their presences, but something in the back of my mind convinced me so.

I turned my attention back to the keypad, since it was the first step in freeing Link. I swiped the keycard once again, and the keypad asked for a four-digit code. I punched in random numbers, and nothing happened. _Just as I figured, _I thought. I punched in six more combinations before I became frustrated. I stared at the keypad for a moment, trying to think of the correct code.

"What if I try this code? That might…oh, screw it!" I said. I grabbed my sword from my belt and raised it up to the keypad. I was about to stab the keypad when I stopped myself. I told myself that if I destroyed it, then some alarm would be triggered, and that would cause problems for my friends and me. I put the sword away and stared at the keypad again.

I was very vexed with the situation. I kept gripping the hilt of the Master Sword as I glared at the keypad, resisting the urge to destroy it. As I let go of the hilt, my hand slid across something else. Apparently there was something in my back pocket that I hadn't noticed before. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my iPhone.

_What? Since when did I have this on me?_ I asked myself as I stared at the numbers on my phone. _I thought I left this at home._ As I stared intently at the letters and numbers on the screen, something clicked in my brain, and that's when I realized something.

"What about…" I frowned for a second, before my grimace flipped. "Let's try this code!" I cried out enthusiastically. I punched in the code – 5465 – and hit the enter button. The keypad beeped and the electric bars shorted out, opening the cell.

"Yes! It worked!" I exclaimed. I took a step into the cell, trying to figure out what to do next. I couldn't put the sword and shield back in place, since the chains were in the way. Why would anyone feel the need to put binding chains on a motionless trophy? That never did make sense to me. Nonetheless I had to get the chains off somehow.

I took a moment to contemplate this problem, and I got another idea. I whipped out the Beam Sword I found earlier and activated it. I figured that if the Master Sword couldn't cut through the thick chains, perhaps a blade of super-conducted heated material could. There was just one problem: if I missed, I could slice through the trophy and cause permanent damage. _Nngh…I better have luck on my side_, I thought. _Let's hope this works!_

I raised the Beam Sword above my head, preparing myself for the worst. I brought the energy blade down with as much force as I could muster, and right after that I looked away and shut my eyes, as if I had just inflicted pain on myself. I peeked out of one eye to see my handiwork, and thank God! The blade had cut cleanly through the shackles of the two left chains.

With a major sigh of relief, I raised the blade again, and I thought, _Wow, that was easier than I anticipated. Well, only two more – I just have to be really careful now. _The other chains appeared to be more complicated, because a certain left hand was at stake, and that could be disastrous if it was amputated. Again I swiftly and aggressively brought the blade down, and the shackles were cut clean off. Chains and prison cells no longer held the trophy back.

"Alright!" I exclaimed rather loudly as I put the Beam Sword away. This time I felt a sense of pride rather than relief for my achievement. "Good, now to return these weapons to their rightful owner." So I gently yet firmly placed the Master Sword and Hylian Shield in their respective spots on the trophy. Once I did that, the base of the trophy slowly gleamed with a warm bronze luster.

"Excellent! Now for the finishing touch," I mused. I knelt in front of the trophy, bowed my head, and lightly placed a hand on the base. A familiar light began to radiate with such intensity that it forced me to shield my eyes. When the light faded, the trophy base disappeared, and I could only see a pair of brown, adventure-worn boots.

Link had returned to his normal self. I didn't see his face, but something made me think that his first reaction upon being revived was confusion. After all, I did make myself appear as if I was bowing and swearing my loyalty to him. He merely snickered and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. I reacted by looking up into his grateful-looking face.

Wow, what a sight for sore eyes! After several days – almost a week – the Hero of Time was alive again, and the best part was that I alone was responsible for his rescue. Okay, so I had some help from friends, but I did a good deal of the work - battling Dark Link was exhausting, after all.

I stood up and gazed at him eye-to-eye. Those Hylian eyes sparkled with an enchanting sapphire hue, and they were filled with immense gratitude and delight. Oh, how they made me melt! There was no way that I could take my eyes off his eyes – until Link spoke up.

"Your accuracy is pretty good," he commented with a grin. "You should try to relax next time you attempt that." I blushed ever so slightly, and with a meek smile I replied with a small 'Thanks.'

I blinked. Looking at Link seemed rather weird. I felt like I was looking at myself in the mirror. It was true that we did look pretty similar – both of us had blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, and we were both the same height – and at that moment we shared the same cheerful expression. Beside the obvious there was one difference between us: he was the Hero of Time, while I was nothing more than a teenager. It was a minor drawback to my charisma, but I wasn't going to let it bother me.

"Wait, you saw everything that I just did?" I asked. He nodded. _Wow, way to be smooth_, I thought. He answered, "Just because I can't move or speak doesn't mean that I'm not aware of what is going on around me."

"Oh! Well then, I suppose it's a good thing I didn't make myself look like an idiot."

"Far from it. Oh, and that is an impressive sword you have there. Where did you find it?"

"Why thank you! I found it on this ship, matter of fact." For some reason I felt the need to cut the small talk and really say what I think. I told him, "I'm glad to see that you're okay, Link. You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive and well."

"Same here," he replied. The expression on his face suddenly changed to one of concern when he looked at me again. "Are you okay?" I slightly bowed my head, and my eyes began to well up.

"Give me a minute," I choked. I turned away from him somewhat, because I didn't want him to see the tears that were about to flow down my cheeks, even though I tried to hold them back. I pretended to look like I had problems with allergies, and I lied to myself by thinking that I was shedding tears of joy. But that didn't work. I knew that I was pretty upset about something, and Link could sense it as well.

"Care to tell me what's wrong?" he asked. The tone in his voice was gentle and calming, and that was motivation enough to speak up but not enough to turn and face him.

"I still feel guilty," I muttered. The tears were flooding my eyes, but I refused to let myself break down and sob. "Even though I managed to save you, I still feel guilty about everything that happened. What I mean is—please, let me finish." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Link attempting to interrupt me and ask questions, but he stopped himself and continued to hear me out. "What I mean is that it's my fault that you were attacked and captured. If I had just kept my guard up and dealt with Bowser, none of this would have happened, and you would never have ended up here, at his mercy. I can't seem to forgive myself for letting that happen to you. I'm really sorry, Link…"

Silence filled the room, save for the stifled sounds of my crying. Link gently turned me around and looked into my eyes with the most sincerely worried look on his face that I had ever seen.

"Hold on a minute, Brooke! You're talking nonsense!" He said to me. "None of this is your fault, and you shouldn't be blaming yourself. You don't need to apologize to me about it, either. It was my choice to protect you from Bowser, and I did. I was only captured because of a freak accident."

"Are you sure?" I asked, reminded of the stray attack on him. He nodded. Seeing my tears, Link wiped them away with care, and then he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I am positive. And on that note, I should thank you for holding onto my sword and shield for me. I wouldn't be alive and speaking to you right now had you not done that. Matter of fact, I should thank you for rescuing me. I really appreciate it, and you were great." I gave him a confused look before he continued.

"I saw everything that you did. You did everything you could to revive me, and you did your best in pursuing Bowser and me. And just now you freed me from my imprisonment. If it weren't for you, I would still be lifeless, maybe even permanently."

"I guess," I sighed. "But that's not all I did." Link raised an eyebrow, and I continued. "Above all, I encountered Dark Link. He pretended to be you and tried to mentally torture me with lies. I almost fell for it, but I saw through his trick and confronted him. We dueled each other to the death for high stakes, and I defeated him with the help of your sword and shield. That's how I managed to get to you."

A different expression appeared on Link's face. I could see in his eyes that he was angry at Dark Link, angry at the fact that his evil counterpart messed with his friends. But his face became calm again, and then he looked rather proud.

"I can't believe that he would do that to you," he answered. "If I get my hands on that sick bastard, I swear I'll—but that's besides the point. You've fought hard, and you overcame some of the worst evil ever in order to save me. Believe it or not, even a hero needs help sometimes."

He smiled at me, and I returned a smile as well, no longer upset. What Link did next took me by surprise: he brought me close and embraced me. I was rather startled by this, but I embraced him as well.

"Brooke, I promise that we will never be separated again," he declared. "Is that all right with you?" I instantly felt happier and more relaxed. Receiving such a warm-hearted hug raised my spirits a lot. With a small giggle I beamed and replied a simple 'yes.'

We let go of each other after a few minutes, and I spoke up, "We should get back to the others. They're probably being impatient." Link nodded, and we headed through the double doors into the long hallway.

* * *

Author's Notes: Okay, props to anyone who can figure out the significance of the code. ;-D Anyway, I'm sorry that it's been a while since I last updated. Between college, work, and a side project, I've been very sidetracked. I promise I won't delay chapters like that again...or at least I'll try not to do that, anyway. Yeah, this chapter was a bit sentimental and all, but I had to do that. XD Well, I'll update soon! Thanks!

P.S. I still only own the OCs and the ideas of this fan fic!


	10. Chapter 10: More Trouble on the Halberd

Chapter 10: More Trouble on the Halberd

Link and I made our way back to the balcony of the giant room, and what I noticed was that the bars no longer blocked the entrance. The others had entered the room, and they looked up to the balcony to see Link and me emerging from the double doors.

"You're back!" Candace shouted. "It sure took you long enough!" I just laughed a bit and jumped down from the balcony. Link followed suit, and we landed in front of the others. Kayla and Candace glomped me, and Snake walked up to Link and high-fived him.

"It's nice to see you again, soldier," Snake declared with a smirk.

"Same here," Link replied with a nod. "I see that you and Brooke brought friends."

"We sure did! So—" Snake said before he was interrupted by two rather loud gasps. Everyone turned to look at Kayla and Candace who had both stared at Link with wide eyes and hanging jaws.

"Wait a minute, did he just—"

"Did he just talk? Since when could Link talk?" They both said. Everyone else just sweat dropped, and Link and I facepalmed. _Wow, I never guessed that they could be so dense_, I thought. After being suddenly and rudely interrupted, Snake continued.

"So did you two find anything interesting beyond those doors?" he asked as he pointed to the balcony.

"No," I answered. "It was a dead end, so we turned back. We should probably head out the way we came in." Snake nodded and began to walk towards the entrance hall. Marth and Wolf followed him, but before they reached the hall, a loud boom echoed throughout the whole room. An enormous rumble shook the room, and everyone lost their balance and fell to the floor.

"What in the name of Palutena's Army was that?!" Pit asked rather loudly. He and a few others attempted to stand up, but another rumble shook the room and caused them to fall to the floor again.

"I think the Halberd got hit!" Wolf shouted. "That, or it crashed into something!"

"Come on guys! We have to find out what's going on!" Snake yelled. We took his advice, got up, and ran out of room into the dark hallway. Marth stopped and looked out at the nearest porthole. He said something to Kayla in Japanese, and she translated.

"Marth says that the Halberd hit some kind of Glacier Peak."

"Wait, did you say Glacier Peak?" Candace asked. "I think Lex is somewhere on that mountain!"

"There's no time to contemplate that, let's go!" Wolf cut in. All of us were wondering where exactly we were supposed to go. We kept running to the other end of the ship, killing enemies as we went. The hall ended at a fork, and we stopped.

"Okay, it's time to split up again," I stated. "Candace, you take Wolf, Pit and Marth down that way, and try to get to the Halberd Bridge. Kayla, you can come with Snake, Link, and me. We'll go this way and make our way to the top control room."

"Got it!" everyone else responded. While Candace took her group towards the bridge, I took my group towards the control room. As we ran, Link spoke up.

"Why exactly are we headed to the control room?" he asked.

"If we head up there, we can get rid of whoever is piloting this thing, and then we can land it somewhere safe," I answered.

"Do you even know if we're going the right way?" Kayla asked me.

"Sure, why wouldn't we be going the right way?" I responded. "The other hall leads to the bridge. That's the way we came in, remember?" Kayla merely sighed and kept going. After taking several flights of stairs and trampling enemy units, we made our way to the top of the Halberd. However, the doors to the control room wouldn't open.

"Everyone, stand back," Snake ordered. We silently stepped away from the door as Snake placed several C4 remote mines on the heavy plate of metal. Snake took a few steps back and pushed the button on the detonator. Instantly the C4 mines exploded, leaving a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the door was left hanging by a single hinge.

Everyone except Snake stood there and blinked at the remains of the metal door, awestruck by the power of Snake's funky gadgets. Snake simply walked through the doorway, and when the rest of us came to our senses, we followed him. Beyond the door was a rather large control room with a windshield that spanned across most of the width of the room. A steering wheel similar to the wheels on pirate ships stood in the center of the room near the windshield, and several buttons, switches, and levers glimmered on the control panel.

We had found the room that we were seeking, but what we didn't expect to find was a group of Mr. Game and Watch copies – five or six of them - that were controlling the giant airship. None of us knew why Mr. Game and Watch – of all people – would be controlling the Halberd, but that seemed to matter little at the moment.

Snake and Link nodded to each other and charged at the Mr. Game and Watch copies, raising their arms in front of their faces to guard themselves. Kayla gasped slightly, and I tried to stop them…to no avail.

"Uh, guys, I don't think that's a—" I tried to tell them. However, they ignored me, and they bashed into the flat beings, sending them flying into the windshield. The glass broke, and they went careening out of the room and to the bridge below.

"…good idea," I finished. I sighed and walked to the now broken windshield, giving the men a rather annoyed look while at the same time trying not to laugh.

"Oh well," Kayla commented, pointing at the windshield. "We can't do anything about it now." I looked out the windshield. Several feet below the control room I could see a pile of Mr. Game and Watch bodies lying on the Halberd Bridge. The bodies twitched and dissolved into the familiar purple particles of Shadow Bugs. I continued to stare at the purple blob as it shifted into a different shape. The others also watched it from the windshield.

The Shadow Bugs formed a new being: some kind of machine with two upper bodies that shared a wheel for a lower body. One body was blue and had blades for arms. The other body was white and pink and had guns for arms. The being was none other than the notorious Duon!

"Oh, that can't be good," Snake groaned. I looked over to see Kayla scanning her eyes over the extent of the bridge. She then pointed at it and asked, "Hey, is that Meta Knight?"

"What? What do you mean?" I retorted. I peered in the direction of her pointed finger. Standing before Duon was a short figure with a blue cape, silver gloves, a silver mask, and a bright yellow sword. He looked ready to face the machine alone.

"Hey, that is Meta Knight!" I cried. "But how did he get up here?"

"More like, how is he going to fight that thing by himself?" Snake interjected.

"I say we hurry down there and lend him a hand," Link advised. I took his words to mind as I watched Meta Knight charge at Duon, who in turn simply knocked him back.

"That sounds like a good plan," Kayla said. "But someone should stay up here and guard the control room. I volunteer myself, since I have no weapons to fight that thing." As much as Kayla sounded like a complete chicken, we agreed on the choice. Kayla stayed behind, while Link, Snake and I jumped through the broken windshield and onto the bridge below. A rather confused Meta Knight simply stared at us and pointed his sword in our general direction.

"Halt!" he cried. "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"

"Relax, Meta Knight!" I replied, putting my hands up in defense. "We're here to help. I'll explain everything later, but right now we should defeat this thing." Meta Knight seemed to heed my words, for he lowered his sword, looking content yet confused with the new company on board. At that moment, Candace and friends arrived at the bridge and joined up with Meta Knight and the rest of us.

"Hey, it's a regular party!" Candace stated. "Damn, what is that thing?" She pointed to the two-bodied machine-beast thing before us.

"It's Duon! He can attack up close and from a distance, so be extra careful!" I answered. With no further questions, everyone assumed their battle stances and faced Duon. Snake readied his missile launcher. Wolf and Candace whipped out their blasters. Link, Marth, Meta Knight and I brandished our swords. Pit prepared his bow with a light arrow. Opposite us Duon raised its bladed arms and shrieked at us, ready to fight.

Random battle music played again as Duon charged towards us, its one giant wheel ready to run us over. Everyone flew or jumped out of the way of the incoming machine. It skidded and turned on a dime. Pit shot a light arrow at Duon's face, but the arrow was deflected and sent right back at him. The arrow hit Pit and knocked him back a few feet, but he managed to maintain his balance.

"Ow, that hurt!" Pit cried. He was obviously not happy about having his own attack hit him. He was about to strike again before I stopped him.

"Hang on a sec, Pit!" I yelled. "I have a plan. We should split the group, and each group should focus on one side of Duon. Wolf, Candace, Pit, Snake! Focus on attacking the pink body! Meta Knight, Marth, Link! You and I should focus on the blue body! Am I clear?" Everyone nodded and took their positions facing one of the two bodies of Duon.

"I'M A FIRIN' MAH LAZOR!" Candace shouted as she and Wolf fired…lasers at Duon. Pit shot light arrows, while Snake shot remote controlled missiles. The energy shots did little damage to the pink body, but the explosive missiles inflicted decent damage. Duon shook the attacks off and retaliated with its own lasers and missiles. I heard Wolf shout "Get down!" and lie flat on the floor of the bridge. The others did as well, and the attacks just barely went flying above their heads. The lasers grazed Pit's wings, and the wings were slightly burned, but otherwise he was fine.

"That also hurt…" Pit muttered. Seeing Pit's vulnerability, Duon rolled towards him, ready to strike again. He stopped short, however, as something exploded from beneath his wheel. It turns out that Duon rolled directly into one of the landmines that Snake surreptitiously placed when no one was looking. Snake snickered to himself as he watched Duon become caught in the blast.

Meanwhile on the other side of Duon, we weren't faring as well. The blue body kept slashing at us non-stop, especially at Marth and me. We were forced to keep up our defenses, since we had little opportunity to take the offensive. The worst part was that Marth was almost killed. Duon stabbed at Marth, barely catching him on the sleeve of his dominant arm. Not only did Duon's blade cut open Marth's arm, but the blade also pinned him to the wooden floor of the bridge. Duon reared his head back, ready to bring the top blade down on the blue swordsman and finish him off, but fortunately Link charged and rammed his shield into the blade arm that trapped Marth. He freed the prince and knocked him out of the way of the giant blade that came down where Marth was lying a second ago.

"Are you all right?" Link asked him. Marth nodded while he held the bloody wound on his arm. Link advised him to stay away from the battle for a moment until he could use his sword arm again. _Great, we just lost another fighter_, I thought. I had to think of something fast.

"Meta Knight, can you fly up to Duon's head and create a distraction?" I called to Meta Knight. The star warrior didn't answer me, but it was evident that he heard me, since he opened his wings and flew up to the blue face of Duon. He made a few hit-and-run attacks while maintaining his flight around the blue head. Since Duon couldn't focus on all of us, we were given the upper hand. Link and I slashed at the wheel and the lower half of the blue body (Marth had to sit out due to his injured arm).

"Pit, follow Meta Knight's example!" Candace yelled. Pit nodded and took flight. He also made a few hit-and-run attacks as he flew around the pink head. The distractions made by Pit and Meta Knight soon angered Duon, and he rapidly spun like a tornado, knocking the flying fighters away. They hit the ground rather roughly. Seeing as Duon was powered up by the new rage, I had to think of something that would finish him.

"Link! Snake! Throw as many explosives as possible!" I shouted. They followed the command instantly. Snake used his grenade launcher over and over again while Link fired several bomb arrows. Duon couldn't withstand that many explosives, and one giant explosion completely consumed his entire body. The black smoke that followed fumed for several moments. When the smoke cleared, Duon was left in a mess. The armor was cracked in several spots, and ashes covered both upper bodies. However, he was still moving, as if he was going to rise and attack again.

"Oh, no you don't!" I cried. I took advantage of Duon's momentary vulnerability, and with a battle cry I leapt up into the air, extending my Beam Sword to its fullest length, and struck down on Duon with a vertical slash. The energy blade tore through the middle of the wheel between the upper bodies. Duon fell apart into two halves, one body each lying motionlessly on the bridge. The machine dissolved into Shadow Bugs and disappeared, leaving naught but a single trophy of Mr. Game and Watch.

"I guess that's it," Wolf stated. "Well, that's pathetic." I gazed at the trophy before us, pondering about it. _Perhaps this guy can be of some use to us_, I thought. I strolled towards the trophy, ever so slightly pushing Wolf aside.

That was a big mistake. I was about to touch the base of the trophy when Wolf suddenly snarled and pushed me aside. The others gasped at the unexpected attitude from the lupine fighter.

"Hey, watch it!" Wolf yelled. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"I was about to revive this guy," I calmly answered. "Is there a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. That thing almost killed us, and you want to revive it! Are you an idiot? Are you trying to get us killed again?"

"Whoa, take a chill pill, Wolf!" Candace told him.

"Yeah, and while you're at it, watch your mouth," Snake added. Wolf turned to them and spat, "Hey, shut up!" He turned back to me and glared daggers at me. If looks could kill, I would be nothing but a pile of ashes.

"Listen here, you," he sneered as he grabbed me by the collar with one of his clawed hands. Before he could continue, Link immediately drew his blade and raised it to Wolf's throat. He too was glaring daggers at Wolf.

"Nobody messes with Brooke," Link said coldly. "Release her at once, or answer to me." Wolf merely growled and loosened his grip on my collar. Glaring at Link, he backed away slowly and said, "Fine. You win." I fidgeted with my shirt and continued.

"Listen to me, Wolf. I think that Mr. Game and Watch is a good guy, and perhaps he could help us. Having another fighter on our team wouldn't hurt, right guys?"

"She's right," Meta Knight cut in. "Mr. Game and Watch has no concept of good or evil, but if we convince him to join us in our endeavors, we will benefit greatly." He walked over to the still trophy and touched its base. In a flash of light Mr. Game and Watch stood before us with a look of confusion (or at least, that's what I assumed despite the lack of facial features on the guy).

"Sir Game and Watch, are you all right?" Meta Knight asked the flat man. Due to his inability to speak, he simply beeped. Meta Knight nodded and replied, "That's good." He turned to the rest of us and said, "By the way, I must thank you all for helping me fight that blasted machine. I was only here to take back my ship, but I didn't expect to encounter this much trouble."

"You're welcome!" Candace blurted in the most random accent I've ever heard. "Hey wait…where did Kayla go?" She suddenly realized that her best friend wasn't with them on the bridge and looked around in slight panic.

"Relax, Candace. She is up there in the control room," Snake responded, pointing upward to the control room. Just then, Marth stumbled towards us, holding a wounded arm and his sword. The wound was still bleeding, and his face looked rather pale. He looked like he was about to fall over, until Pit ran to his side and assisted him.

"Marth, you don't look so good," Pit said with an air of concern. "Then again, my wings aren't in very good shape, either." Meta Knight took a closer look at the blue swordsman and said, "I'll lead you to the infirmary, and my medical team will heal both of you. Sir Game and Watch, please assist Sir Pit and help Sir Marth. I'll meet up with the rest of you in the control room. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded.

Meta Knight walked towards one side of the bridge, apparently heading towards the infirmary. Pit and Mr. Game and Watch were helping Marth walk as they followed Meta Knight. The rest of us walked towards the other side of the bridge that led to the control room, hoping to meet up with Kayla. As we made our way up, Link sidled over to Wolf and whispered to him.

"Touch her again, and you die. Got it?" Wolf only uttered a low growl and nodded, not looking at the green swordsman.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey, I'm sorry that the chapter ended so weirdly. I could not think of a better way to end it. Oh yeah, and I noticed that this chapter is way longer than my previous chapters. Whether that is a good thing or not is for you guys to decide.

By the way, sorry that this chapter is late. College has been getting on my nerves. Oh, thanks for the hits - I'm fast approaching 1000! So keep reading and reviewing guys. The motivation and feedback helps. ;-)

P.S. I just had to make Wolf sound like an ass. It would be incredibly weird to do so otherwise.


	11. Chapter 11: A Well Deserved Break Part 1

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait, guys. I've had writer's block, and college work got in the way again.

* * *

Chapter 11: A Well-Deserved Break, Part I

Alongside Link, Snake, Wolf, and Candace I made my way back up to the control room. The difference this time was that no enemies got in our way. In fact, there were none left on the Halberd. It seemed that after the defeat of Duon, the other Subspace troops were eradicated. The looming red sky was still hanging over our heads, but other than that, there was nothing to worry about.

We saw Kayla looking out of the broken windshield of the control room. Upon entering the room, Kayla noticed our presences and turned to greet us with a goofy grin on her face.

"Hey, that was awesome!" Kayla exclaimed. "I saw the whole battle, and you guys hauled ass! I even saw the finishing blow, and that was quite a sight to see!" I blushed and smiled meekly at the last sentence, letting a small chuckle escape my mouth. Kayla had been rather entertained watching our battle against Duon, and her spirits were lifted greatly.

Just then Meta Knight walked into the control room with Mr. Game and Watch. When Meta Knight saw the mess that had been made here, particularly the broken glass, his eyes changed color and seemed to express shock and anger.

"What happened in here?!" he cried. "What happened to my windshield? Who did this?" Immediately Kayla, Mr. Game and Watch and I pointed at Link and Snake, accusing them of the damages. The two of them just gave us an annoyed look, and Meta Knight glared at them and fumed. He looked ready to tear out the internal organs of both men, until Kayla stopped him.

"Relax, Meta Knight!" she told him, hoping to calm him. "They were just trying to help you take back the ship. Besides, I already cleaned up the glass while you guys were busy." She pointed to a broom and dustpan in the corner and grinned. Mr. Game and Watch beeped. After a moment, Meta Knight calmed himself, and his eyes changed back to their normal yellow hue.

"Right, sorry about the outburst," he said. "Well now, it's time to take back my ship." He waddled over to the helm of the ship, and with one smooth turn of the wheel, the Halberd changed course and flew out of the red clouds into the bright blue sky. The change of scenery was nice. I was trying to take it in, when Candace distracted me.

"I have a question," she started. "What exactly happened when the Halberd rumbled? Did it crash into something? I looked out of one of the portholes, and I saw part of the Glacier Peak."

"Ah yes, about that," Meta Knight responded. "I was atop the Glacier Peak when the Halberd crashed into it. It sent a few others tumbling down the mountain, but I took advantage of the situation and climbed aboard the Halberd. That is when I encountered Duon."

"Hey, that reminds me!" Kayla interrupted. "I had one of those visions while you guys were out."

"Really? What did you see, Kayla?" Candace eagerly asked her.

"Well, the first vision I saw involved the Glacier Peak. The Halberd crashed into it and sent Lex, Lucario, and the Pokemon Trainer tumbling down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain I saw Jess and Ike, and all five of them managed to run into each other. An icy boulder hit Lucario square on the head, and that's when the scene changed."

"What else did you see?" Snake interrupted her.

"I was getting to that! Anyway, the next thing I saw was Renee and Zelda infiltrating some kind of factory. It was on a floating island. They saw Peach and Kitty and managed to rescue them, and the four of them entered the factory on the island. Oh, and they were with Captain Falcon also. That's about it."

"Well, that sounds like good news to me…I guess," I commented, not completely sure of myself. Suddenly I heard a low rumble. It didn't sound very threatening, but it was a rumble nonetheless.

"Oh sorry," Wolf murmured. "That was my stomach. I must be hungry." Wolf's comment also made me hungry, along with everyone else apparently.

"Oh great," I muttered as my own stomach rumbled. "You just reminded me of my hunger. I don't think any of us have eaten much in the past week. Not to mention we've barely had any decent sleep." Meta Knight contemplated this drawback for a bit and then spoke up.

"Sir Game and Watch, stay here and take the helm. The rest of you, please follow me." Meta Knight turned and walked out of the control room and down the flight of steps. We hurried after him to catch up to him. None of us knew where we were going, but we were sure that Meta Knight had a good reason for having us follow him.

He led us to two wide, opposite facing corridors and stopped to face us. He pointed down the left corridor and said, "This hall leads to the kitchen and dining area. In there you will find crates of food and water." He pointed down the right hall and continued, "This hall leads to the sleeping quarters. Mind you, they aren't the best rooms, but they're good enough. The sun is setting soon, and you all appear exhausted from your adventures. I advise that you get some nourishment and rest. Tomorrow you may continue on your endeavors."

"Thanks a lot for the hospitality, Meta Knight," I said. "We really appreciate it."

"Not a problem, Lady Brooke," he replied. "It is the least I could do for you after you all helped me fight Duon and take back my ship. Go on now; I will send Sir Marth and Sir Pit to join you." I smiled at the blue knight (who looked like a marshmallow) before I ushered the others down the left hall.

We turned a corner and entered a rather large room. On one side of the room stood a kitchen-dining room combination, and it looked like it was recently cleaned. On the other side of the room stood several stacks of wooden crates and barrels, along with a few storage units for water. Our eyes bulged at the sight of the room, particularly the food supply, and we almost drooled, influenced by the general consensus of hunger.

Everyone made a mad rush into the room and towards the supplies, but we all stopped short in order to remain calm. We weren't about to let our hunger make us go insane.

"Okay, let's handle this like mature adults, shall we?" I suggested with a smirk. "Link, can you pry open those crates? Wolf, how about you open those barrels? Snake can fetch the water jugs. Kayla, Candace…let's get cookin'!" Everyone reported to their assigned jobs and got to work.

Link was using his sword to pry open crate after wooden crate, and the scent of fresh produce filled the air. Wolf was opening the barrels, and the aroma of grains and sweets tickled everyone's noses. Snake was gathering the water jugs and dividing the water into glasses. Kayla, Candace and I prepared the kitchen and gathered the food with which we could cook. Candace opened the refrigerator and released the smell of meat and dairy products, which caused us to grin with excitement. The three of us girls planned to use our combined culinary skills to whip up a feast, and man, was it going to be a fine one.

As everyone continued working, the bandaged Marth and Pit strolled in to join us. When they saw what was going on, they offered to help. It would have been a bit crowded in the kitchen, so we assigned them to set the round table, which just happened to have eight seats.

When we were finally finished with our jobs, we all gathered around the table in the following order: Marth, Kayla, Pit, Candace, Wolf, Snake, myself, and Link. Kayla, Candace and I presented the fruits of our labor, so to speak, and everyone eyed the food before them with delight. I stood up and gathered everyone's attention by clearing my throat.

"Before we start, I'd like to propose a toast." I raised my glass, and everyone followed my example, some more eager than others. "So, over the past several days we have met each other, and together we have worked hard to slay our enemies and help our allies, and that hard work managed to get us where we are right now, alive and well. So…a toast…to our health and our amazing ability to kick ass!"

"CHEERS!" we all shouted and we tapped our glasses together, the sound of clanging glass echoing throughout the room. At that point, everyone began to help themselves to the chicken teriyaki stir-fry with vegetables and rice.

As we ate, we conversed on several topics: everything from our adventures in the past to our likes and dislikes and even our most embarrassing moments. The topic that really intrigued the group was how my friends and I ended up in this world and how we know everyone who resides here. We told the gentlemen the tale of our sudden arrival, mentioning the video game and the power outage. Only Snake and Wolf seemed to understand us, being that they were more technologically advanced than some of their comrades. Link, Pit and Marth couldn't help but tilt their heads and stare at us with baffled expressions, and we couldn't help but laugh.

We finished the feast with a delicious brownie cake that I baked. When we were done stuffing our faces with real food, the men all uttered a simultaneous 'Thank you, ladies!' and the girls and I giggled and bade them welcome. We cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, and repacked the leftover food. Looking out of the portholes, it was evident that the sun had set and that the night had begun. Knowing this, we decided to retire to our quarters with full stomachs and sound minds. Yeah, we were tired.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, this chapter marks the beginning of a break from the action-packed plot, and it also starts to focus more on the characters themselves - something that I figured may of you would want to see. Also, I had to split this chapter into two parts; otherwise the chapter would have been way too long. Part II should be up soon.

P.S. I'd like to thank all of my readers for 1000+ hits on this story so far. I really appreciate the support. Don't forget to review. It keeps me motivated and helps me improve my writing.


	12. Chapter 12: A Well Deserved Break Part 2

Author's Notes: Damn, the holidays can really mess up a writing schedule. Sorry for the huge delay. I said before that I would publish this chapter sooner, but my lack of Internet access prevented me from doing so. I'm sorry!

Anyway, a little warning: this chapter contains a bit of sentiment, although there will probably be more of it for the next few chapters. Worry not, however! The action scenes will resume soon enough. So, if you're a fan of romance, please enjoy this chapter. If not, please bear with me until the later chapters. Trust me, the wait will be worth it.

Disclaimer: I only own this story, the OCs, and a copy of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl game. Nintendo owns everything else.

* * *

Chapter 12: A Well-Deserved Break, Part II

We left the dining area and made our way down one corridor into the other corridor that led to the sleeping quarters. When we turned the corner, there appeared the quarters before us. However, something was amiss.

I counted the rooms and then the heads of the group. Realizing that something didn't add up, I stated, "Hey, there are eight of us and only six rooms." Snake walked up to one of the middle rooms in the hall and looked inside. I also peered into the room. The room had a single queen-size bed with a closet, two nightstands, and a bathroom.

"Hmm, it looks like two people could fit into one bed," Snake deduced. I turned to the others and asked, "Okay, so who's sharing?"

"DIBS!" Pit and Wolf shouted as they raced past me and slammed the doors. I immediately turned around to see that Pit, Wolf, and Snake had rushed to each claim a room for themselves (It made sense for Pit, seeing as he needed the wing space).

"Okay, that's three rooms taken," I muttered in slight annoyance. I turned around again. "So, I was thinking that…" I trailed off. I turned to speak to the other four, but they were nowhere in sight. I assumed that they took the other three rooms and left me out in the cold. Judging by the giggling I could hear from the nearest room, I could tell that Kayla and Candace decided to share a room together.

"Okay, so where am I supposed to sleep?" I said to myself. I sighed and slid down the wall into a sitting position. I sadly hung my head and muttered, "Well, since no one wants to share with me, I guess I'll have to sleep out here tonight." I was about to make myself comfortable when I heard footsteps and a door opening.

"Psst…come here," a voice called out quietly. I lifted my head and saw Link in his doorway. He was using his hand to beckon me to come into his room. Not quite understanding what he was getting at, I carefully stood up and walked into his room without a sound as he shut the door behind me. I gazed around the room and then turned to face Link.

"Wait…you're sharing your room with me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Link replied with a smile. "Did you honestly believe that I was going to leave you out there and let you sleep in the cold, dark hall?" I blinked, and then I turned my head and crossed my arms as I muttered a small 'yes' under my breath. Link simply laughed and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, come on," he said in a teasing tone. "I heard everything that you said outside my room." He pointed to one of his sensitive Hylian ears and smirked. "I figured that since the others were being rather selfish, I decided to be the nice one and take you in. Besides, a warm bed beats a cold, metal floor, right?" I turned my head to look at his expression, and I couldn't help but smile a giggle a bit.

"I guess you're right," I sighed as I jokingly rolled my eyes. "Thanks." I walked towards the bed, examining the blankets and the pillows. They had a blue, purple, and silver color scheme to them.

"Heh, I guess Meta Knight has a good taste for colors," I mused. I slipped off my black shoes and walked around the room a bit. The lamplight flooded throughout the room, giving it a warm, comforting feel. I could see a single porthole on the far wall that revealed the night sky. I took a closer look and saw the full moon shining along with the stars.

"The sky is beautiful tonight," I murmured. "I love seeing the moonlight." I hadn't even been paying attention to Link as I said that. I kept gazing at the night sky, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Link unhooking his equipment and taking off his hat, his boots, his gloves, and…_Oh dear God, the tunic, too?_ I thought._ Oh, there goes the shirt._ I ever so slightly turned my head to look at Link. He had nothing on except his khaki pants. The second that Link looked up in my general direction, I turned my head back to the porthole, hoping that he didn't notice me looking at him. I blushed and grimaced at the awkwardness of the situation.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. I didn't quite hear him. "Brooke?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," I answered rather startled. I looked at him again as I gripped my collar. "Is it hot in here, or is it just you—I mean, me?" I inwardly cursed myself for my lack of subtleness.

"You're right. It is a bit warm in here," Link stated, as if he had not noticed the slip of my tongue or my red face. He sat on the bed and leaned back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. I turned back to the porthole and gazed at the stars, thoughts racing through my mind. _He's right. Perhaps I should change into some more comfortable clothes, but I don't have anything else. Sigh, might as well._ I began to take off my socks and my two shirts as my thoughts continued. _Lucky him. He gets to remove most of his clothes, and no one would care. Hmm…he does have nice muscles, though. And that face…I love seeing his face when he's happy._

"If only he showed that face more often," I thought aloud.

"Hmm? Say that again?" Link asked.

"What?" I asked back, facing him. I saw Link's ears perk up as he looked at me, but after a second he turned away and stared at the wall. He must have seen me in my black jeans and black camisole. Did he just blush?

"Oh, I heard you say something," he said to me.

"You heard that? Oh—well, I just thought that it would be nice to see your joyous face more often."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" He turned to face me again, eager to get an answer from me. Uh oh…there was no getting out of this interrogation. I just hoped that he was playing 'good cop' and not 'bad cop'.

"Well, whenever I see your face, most of the time you look serious, as if you're determined, sad, or angry. But there are those rare moments when you have a positive look on your face, like when you're amused or happy. And when I see that look on your face, well…it makes me happy." I smiled meekly at the small confession I made to him.

"You…you really think so?"

"Yeah, and that's not the only thing, either." He blinked, looking confused. "It's your voice. I like it—I never thought I would hear it." Link remained silent, wanting to hear more.

"Do you remember when we were back at the wasteland, and you spoke to me for the first time?" He nodded. "Well, when I heard you speak to me, I was shocked. My friends and I were convinced that you don't talk, and I never thought of you as being much of a talkative person."

"Hmm, that's because I'm not. Normally I keep to myself most of the time, unless I have something really important to say or ask. But that changed when I met you. When I first encountered you, I didn't know who you were, where you were from, or what your intentions were. But there was something about you that made me open up, and when I finally spoke to you, I felt that I had complete confidence and trust in you."

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say."

"So tell me—why do you like my voice?"

"Well, I like it, because it's powerful and gentle at the same time. To tell you the truth, your words filled me with courage and hope. It was your voice that motivated me so much to confront the enemy and save you. I'm not sure if I would have been able to do so otherwise."

"You think so? Well, I'll take that as a compliment. I'm glad that I could help." The features on his face softened as his expression changed from inquisition to satisfaction. He reached over the side of the bed and picked up a pen and a small book bound in leather. He opened the book and began to scribble in it. I guessed that he writing a journal entry.

As I watched him, my face reddened even more, and I became more flustered. I decided not to embarrass myself, so I walked nonchalantly yet quickly into the bathroom, saying nothing except, "I'll be right back." I figured that I could stall for time and cool off as he wrote in his journal.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ I asked myself as I splashed cold water on my face. _I've seen plenty of shirtless guys before, guys that I've liked and hated in the past, so why is he suddenly different? Pull yourself together, Brooke! This is nothing that you can't handle. Just keep cool. _I remained in the bathroom for several minutes, allowing myself to cool off and calm down. When I felt better, I dried my face with a towel and left the bathroom…only to trip over my shoes in the dark and fall on my face.

Seeing this, Link instantly leapt off the bed and rushed to my side, but I brushed him away, indicating that nothing was hurt—except maybe my pride.

"Whoa, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked. I just gave him a thumbs-up, indicating an answer to his question. _Damn shoes… _I thought. I picked myself up and looked around. The room was dark, and the only source of light was the moonlight pouring in through the porthole. I guessed that Link turned off the lamp. Just then a pair of hands reached out and gingerly gripped my shoulders. I turned to gaze into the sapphire eyes that gleamed in the moonlight.

"You look tired," Link spoke through the darkness. "I think that we should both get some rest now. We have a lot on our hands tomorrow." I sighed a bit and nodded, agreeing with him. Normally I would be nocturnal and stay awake throughout most of the night, setting my mind to something creative or productive, but ever since I arrived in this world, I've barely slept. After all of the adventures that occurred in the past several days, I thought that we earned a well-deserved break.

Link situated himself under the dark blankets and rested his head on a metallic silver pillow, his blonde hair conforming to the fluff supporting his head. With a small 'Good night, Brooke' he closed his eyes and drifted into peaceful slumber.

I reluctantly approached my side of the bed, still feeling awkward about the situation. I was sharing a room, let alone a single bed, with a person of the opposite gender. Eh, whatever; it was only one night, and I would rather not sleep on the floor. Rather than crawling into bed and under the blankets, I sat on top of them. I wasn't that tired, so I decided not to sleep just yet – I had too much going on in my mind that would make me restless, so I didn't bother trying.

Hugging my knees, I aimlessly looked around the room, feeling rather bored. It was difficult to keep myself occupied while maintaining the silence, especially since absolute silence normally bothered me. Nonetheless I kept quiet as I scanned the room from one thing to another. I peered at the porthole that allowed the moonlight to flow into the room. Next I glanced at the door, wondering if anyone would try to enter in the dead of night. My eyes then fell on the sleeping Link. My lips curved into the tiniest smile as I stared at him. The features on his face were incredibly softened, and for the first time I thought that he looked completely at peace and undisturbed.

_Hmm, he does look cute when he's sleeping_, I mused. I turned my attention to the nightstand that was next to my side of the bed. Lying on it was a notepad and a pen. As I identified these objects in the dark, I got an idea: I could write my own journal entry, just as Link did. So I picked up the notepad and pen and began to scribble some words into it. I told myself that it would be a good way to vent my thoughts and feeling about everything around me. After what seemed like an hour I finished my entry, and it was written something like this:

**October 24 11:22pm**

**It's been a week since I arrived in this world, although something tells me that my actual time spent here is different – maybe the flow of time in this world varies from the flow of time in my own world. I still don't understand how my friends and I ended up here. It's strange how a single electronic device with no power could warp all nine of us into an alternate dimension without warning. Now I just realized that I have no idea how to get back home. But that's the least of my problems right now: apparently some evil force that I can't seem to fully comprehend is threatening this world. Whoever is behind this mess wants to destroy this world and replace it with his world – Subspace; and he has recruited an entire army to do so. To make matters worse, I got separated from my friends as soon as I got here, being injured in the process. Fortunately I managed to find two of my friends so far, thanks to this weird tattoo on the back of my neck. Apparently if I touch it, I can see my friends in these random visions – only six more to go. The other good part is that I met several people on my adventure. So far I've met Marth, Pit, Wolf, Meta Knight, Mr. Game and Watch, Snake, and Link. Since I have the time, I feel like describing them now: **

**Marth and Mr. Game and Watch are difficult people to engage in a conversation, since the former only speaks Japanese and the latter only speaks by beeping. Nonetheless, they're both cool. Mr. Game and Watch is a funny thing to see, waddling along and being completely flat. Although Marth isn't the most talkative person I've met, he still has some personality. He's very polite and helpful, and he sure knows how to be patient. Moving on to Pit – I admire his optimism. He somewhat reminds me of myself, minus the wings. He also has quite the sense of humor. Then there is Snake, the mercenary with a cold personality and a warm heart. I nearly laughed my head off when he crashed his Cypher and acted like a drunken pilot. I still can't believe that he caught Rayquaza! Even I couldn't do that, and I know more about Pokémon than he does! Oh well, more power to him. He has more gadgets than I can count, but I've yet to see him in his infamous cardboard box. Ah yes, there is also Meta Knight. Despite the fact that I only met him a few hours ago, I'm convinced that there is more to him than meets the eye, or in this case his mask. Sure he's a warrior with a serious personality, but he's also quite chivalrous – he offered us food and a place to sleep after we helped him take back his ship, the Battleship Halberd. He's really cool. Oh, and about Wolf – well, he's not one of my favorites. When Candace and I first met him, he acted like a jerk and attacked us. We were convinced that he was evil, but when Snake laid the smackdown on him, his attitude changed…somewhat, and he agreed to join our team and help us out. Despite the fact that Wolf is an amazing member of the team, I still don't like him very much, nor do I completely trust him. He isn't a very happy person, and his temper is rather short. He even lost it today and took his frustration out on me! I didn't even do anything to him, that jerk! Fortunately Link broke up the fight that was about to (**there was a word scratched out here**) ensue.**

**Speaking of whom, I decided to save the best for last. Link is the first person I met in this world, and I was sure lucky that he came along. He saved my life and healed my wounds, not to mention that he offered to help me find my friends. I still feel like I'm in his debt a hundred times over, even though I did return the favor by rescuing him from the Subspace Army. I swear, when I saw Bowser turn him into a trophy, my world was completely shattered. You have no idea how frustrated I felt when I couldn't bring him back to life. Of course, I later found out that I needed to give back his weapons in order to revive him. At least I put the Master Sword and Hylian Shield to good use in the meantime, especially when I battled Dark Link. When I finally saved Link, my whole world had mended itself upon being reunited with him. Since then I've taken a liking to him, and he's become my best friend in this world. What's so great about Link, you ask? Well, he's a really nice person and an amazing swordsman. If I measured his attributes on a meter, his compassion would exceed his strength and shoot through the roof. He is also incredibly handsome. I can't help but adore his eyes, his hair, his face, and his muscles – seeing him shirtless today just made me want to melt. I hope that he didn't see me blush like crazy. I also love his voice – yes, Link actually speaks, believe it or not. His voice is powerful, gentle, and enchanting. It's also very sexy. Everything about Link makes me happy, yet it makes me wonder: do I like him as more than a friend? Well, it seems pointless to lie to myself now. I wonder if he feels the same way about me…**

**Of course, this brings me to a dilemma. I miss my home, but I also enjoy being here. I want to go home and see the rest of my friends, but at the same time I don't want to leave this place and leave my new friends behind, especially – well, you know about whom I'm talking. Besides, I can't leave yet until I find the rest of my friends. I'm sure I can do that with the help of my new comrades. And with our help we can save this world from the Subspace Army. However, once that is accomplished, I have to make a choice: do I stay here, or do I return to my own world? Can I even return home at all? Well, I'll figure that out later. For now, I'll simply appreciate what I have now.**

**P.S. Swords hurt…especially Beam Swords!**

Satisfied with what I wrote, I grinned and set the notepad and pen on the nightstand. I covered my body with the blankets and rested my head on a pillow. Before I fell asleep, I turned my head toward Link and muttered softly, "Good night, Link." With that I closed my eyes and drifted off into the sweet bliss of darkness.


	13. Chapter 13: The Nightmare Or Is It?

Author's Notes: Oh wow, another chapter already? Well, the truth is that I've had this chapter ready for a while. I just had to wait until after the holidays to publish it - but not before I carefully proofread it.

So, as you can tell by the title, this chapter is described within the mind of the main character/narrator. Thus, most of the chapter is written in italics. The non-italicized sections indicate reality. Any thoughts within the italics are written in regular font. Got that? Good! On with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 13: The Nightmare…Or Is It?

_Everything around me was dark. I could see nothing for miles around, except pitch black. At least I could still see myself. I was wearing my camisole and jeans, but I had nothing else, not even my weapons. I thought that I had just fallen asleep in a bed next to Link, but suddenly I ended up here, and I had no idea why._

_"Hello? Is anyone out there?" I called into the darkness – no answer. I barely heard the echo of my voice. I figured that I would find nothing where I was standing, so I ran aimlessly, hoping to encounter something helpful in the darkness. As I ran I called into the surrounding blackness, hoping that something would be able to hear me and respond. Again, no answer. I tried calling out one more time for good measure, and then I heard something. The faint sound of a male voice reached my ears._

_"Hello? Who's there?" the voice called out. This voice sounded as confused as I was. It also sounded familiar, but I didn't understand why, nor did I know whose voice was calling out to me. Determined to find the source of the voice, I answered back._

_"It's me, Brooke! Where are you?"_

_"I'm over here. Can you find me?" I carefully listened to the voice as it called back. The second I pinpointed its exact location I darted in that direction towards the source. As I ran, the voice became louder and a faint glow manifested in my vision. The closer I got to it, the brighter the glow became, until it took on a distinct shape. The glow formed into the shape of a human being. Although I couldn't recognize this being, he had a familiar air to him._

_I finally got close enough to him to realize that the person was Link. He was visible in this pitch-black realm, just as I was. For some reason he was wearing his full outfit._

_"There you are," he said, relieved to see me. "I've been looking all over for you." This made no sense to me. I was right next to him a moment ago, and suddenly we ended up here._

_"Why?" I asked him. "What is your reason for trying to find me?" He looked at me, registering my question, and the he pointed to my left._

_"Look up there. There is something up there that I thought you should see." I didn't quite understand what he meant, but a light caught my eye. I turned in the direction of Link's pointed finger and saw something suspended in midair: a rectangle of light shone through the darkness, and I thought that I was gazing at it as if it was a plasma TV screen. Did I mention that it was huge? I was about to say something about the screen, but I decided against it._

_The screen began to show footage of the outside world, as if surveillance cameras had been installed to spy on the residents of this world. Various images came into view and disappeared just as quickly, and then the screen focused on one set of footage. What I saw surprised me._

_I could see Jess and Lex lying on the ground with Ike, Lucario, and the Pokémon Trainer. Were they asleep or unconscious? That I couldn't tell. Their bodies stirred, and one by one they woke up and regained their senses. Everyone took in their surroundings and understood that they were at the bottom of a mountain in the middle of the night. Debris was spread around them, and some of them suffered minor injuries. Judging by the scenario I assumed that they had recently been attacked and sent tumbling down the mountain. Was this what Kayla and Meta Knight had recalled earlier?_

_"What happened?" Lex broke the silence with a question. "Are you all right, Lucario?"_

_"Lu…ca…rio…" the Aura Pokémon responded. It didn't speak a word of audible human language. Lex scrunched her eyebrows as she stared at Lucario, trying to figure out what he was saying._

_"Seriously, Lucario, what's going on? Why aren't you speaking?" The blue Pokémon frantically tried to speak to the group, repeating his name continuously. No one understood what he was saying or why he was acting like this, except perhaps the Pokémon Trainer._

_"I don't think that he can speak to us…telepathically, that is," he spoke up._

_"What? What do you mean by that, Red?" Ike questioned him._

_"Oh sure, now you say something relevant," Jess muttered with an annoyed tone, noticing that Ike said something aside from one of his trademark phrases._

_"I think his telepathic powers have been disabled," the trainer known as Red answered, ignoring Jess. "It must have happened when that boulder hit him on the head. His telepathic powers must have shut down when he lost consciousness." Lucario nodded in confirmation of Red's theory._

_"Is this permanent?" Jess inquired. "There must be a way to reverse this."_

_"I think that this is only temporary. Over time his powers should return to him, and then he will be able to speak to us again. In the meantime there isn't much that we can do about it besides attempting to translate his speech." Ike was staring off into space, paying little attention to the situation at hand._

_"Ike, what's on your mind?" Lex asked him, noticing his vacant expression. Ike didn't answer for a few minutes, until he finally replied, "We should try to find the others."_

_"He's right," Jess interjected. "I miss Kayla and Marth."_

_"I agree, and I miss Pikachu, too," Lex replied. "Don't worry, Jess. I'm sure Kayla is fine wherever she is. And we'll save Marth and Pikachu together. Am I right?" Ike, Red and Lucario all nodded in agreement._

_For some reason I couldn't help but inwardly laugh at the comment that Lex made, seeing as two of the three characters that she mentioned were with me, and they were perfectly fine. However, I felt a strange urge to just call out to her and let her know that._

_"Lex! Jess!" I shouted to the screen. Link looked at me rather alarmed by the broken silence between us. The figures on the screen gasped and looked frantically around them._

_"Jess, did you hear that?" Lex whispered to her._

_"Yeah, I sure did," Jess responded. "And my tattoo hurts." She indicated the familiar Smash Bros. tattoo on her right arm. Lex showed the tattoo on her left arm._

_"What are you talking about?" Red interrupted. "I didn't hear anything."_

_"I think I heard someone's voice calling out to us. Jess heard it, too."_

_"Lex, Jess, can you guys hear me?" I called to them again, surprised by the success of my shout-out. _

_"There's that voice again," Jess murmured. "Yes, we can hear you. Who are you?"_

_"It's me, Brooke! Are you guys all right?"_

_"Yeah, we're all fine…well, almost all of us," Lex said, looking at Lucario. She touched her tattoo, as did Jess, and their eyes seemed to focus on nothing. "Hey, I can see you, Brooke!" Alarmed by that last comment, I turned to look behind me, but nothing was there._

_"Where are you? Are you okay?" Jess asked._

_"I'm on the Battleship Halberd, and yes, I'm fine. I should add that Kayla and Marth are with me, and they're okay as well." Jess sighed with relief and beamed._

_"What are you doing up there?" Lex asked._

_"I was on a rescue mission, so I infiltrated the Halberd. After that I ran into Meta Knight and helped him take it back. Right now we're resting, and in the morning we're going to land the Halberd in some location where we can find you guys."_

_"Good, and then you can help us rescue Pikachu!"_

_"Indeed I can, and we also have to find the others. Renee and Kitty are on the Isle of the Ancients, but I don't know where Jim and Will are. Anyway, once we land the ship, I'll let you know where you can find us. We should be easy to spot."_

_"Okay, got it!" Jess interjected. Suddenly Lucario stood up and started waving his arms around like a complete maniac._

_"What are you doing, Lucario?" Lex asked the Pokémon. He pointed his arms in the direction behind Lex, and then he waved them around even more frantically. "Now isn't exactly the time to play charades, pal." Just then I saw what Lucario was trying to show her: A wave of Primids appeared, and two R.O.B.s just activated a Subspace Bomb near them._

_"Guys, look out!" I cried to them. Ike sharply turned around and brandished his sword._

_"Prepare yourselves," he commanded confidently as he assumed his battle stance. The others readied themselves for the oncoming wave of attacks. The second that they charged forward, the screen blacked out. _Oh no_, I thought. _What happened? Why can't I see them anymore? _Suddenly a maniacal laugh echoed through the darkness. Link and I turned around, startled by it._

_"Who's there?" Link yelled to no one in particular. "Show yourself!" The new voice laughed again, louder this time. Link was about to brandish his sword when out of nowhere a rather large hand appeared. It reached out, grabbed Link by his neck, and raised him high into the air. Link let out a cry of pain as he struggled to break free from the hand's firm grasp._

_"LINK!" I shouted. "Let go of Link, whoever you are!" The hand just seemed to tighten its grip on Link, clearly implying that it was not going to take orders from me._

_"How dare you interfere in my mission!" the voice boomed in the blackness, coming from the hand. "You're a foolish one to try and thwart my plans. You don't even belong here, so you ought to leave this world and let me do as I wish."_

_"Listen, I don't know how or why I arrived in this world, but I can't leave for the time being. I don't know who you are or what you want, but it isn't right, so I'll continue to stand in your way and do all that I can to defy you." The hand seemed to tense at my words, causing Link further pain. He struggled even harder to break free as the hand began to cut off air to his lungs._

_"Hmph, you pretentious fool! I ought to destroy you right now, but I will merely let you off with a warning—a very extreme warning." From the blackness beneath the hand appeared a pool of a strange form of matter, one that I recognized as Subspace. _

"_Brooke! Get out of here while you still can! I—AGHH!" Link cried. The hand reared back and whipped around before escaping into Subspace, dragging Link along with it. The sickening cry of agony from Link slowly faded away as he became fully submerged in Subspace and taken away by the hand._

"_LINK! NO! Bring him back right now, or I'll kill you!" I shouted into the pool. The maniacal laugh returned as the pool of Subspace began to spread out in all directions. When it reached me, it covered my ankles as if I was treading in floodwaters. The Subspace continued to spread as it climbed up imaginary walls, and when it covered the apparent ceiling, the pitch-blackness was completely replaced by a dome of Subspace._

_The hand reappeared before me and yelled, "HA! I said that I would warn you, and now I will! Take a look behind you." With a paranoid look on my face, I slowly turned around, expecting the worst – I couldn't have been more right. What I saw completely mortified me._

_About ten feet away from me Link lied motionless on the ground, the Master Sword driven through his heart. His fresh Hylian blood flowed from his chest and created a pool around him. I rushed to his fallen figure and knelt next to him, failing to understand why this happened. Normally a fallen fighter would end up as a trophy, but this time he was dead – Link was really dead. As much as I wanted to deny this fact, I couldn't, and I didn't know what to do._

_Tears flooded from my eyes faster than the raging waters of Niagara Falls as I called out to the hero, hoping in vain that he would respond. A feeling of extreme anger and hate flooded through my body as I began to resent the hand responsible for this crime. I stood up and turned to face the hand, flames burning in my eyes._

"_Why?!" I shouted. "Why would you do this? He didn't deserve this! You should have punished me instead!" The hand tensed again as it calmly floated above the ground._

"_That is only the beginning, young lady," it stated coldly. "This is what will happen if you continue to stand in the way of my conquest." The hand pointed its index finger behind me. I reluctantly turned around again, not wanting to see Link's dead body. However, what I saw next was much worse._

_This time dozens of bodies lied motionlessly on the ground, completely surrounding me. They were the bodies of every fighter in this world as well as my eight friends that were with me. The anger and hate that I felt before was washed away, and total terror raged through my veins. My body violently shook as I became lost for words from the scene before me. I realized that this hand was capable of the most horrid crimes and that he would likely bring about my downfall._

"_Do you understand my warning now?" the hand interrogated. "You will not stop me from taking over this world and ruling it along with all of Subspace. But it doesn't end there – once this world becomes my territory, I will go beyond this world, beyond Subspace, to conquer everything in this vast universe!" When I realized what it meant, my eyes widened with horror: this hand intended to invade my home world and bring it under its control. As if confirming my realization, the hand showed me various images of my home world being raided by the Subspace Army: R.O.B.s were attacking government buildings, and Primids were destroying homes and killing law enforcement personnel._

"_I shall give you only a taste of what I can do," the hand stated calmly. "Fear me!" Suddenly endless waves of Primids appeared on all sides of me. The hand laughed again as the Primids closed in on me. I couldn't defend myself, so I had no choice but to scream, scream like a man in agony. I kept screaming until—_

"-AGH!" I sat bolt upright in the bed, eyes wide, breathing heavily as cold sweat soaked my skin. Everything that was in my sight a second ago just disappeared. No more Subspace, no more hand, no more bodies, and no more Primids. I was back in the sleeping quarters on Meta Knight's ship, and a faint pink light flooded into the room from the porthole. I guessed that the sun was rising.

I turned to look at the hero next to me, wondering if what happened a moment ago was real. I carefully pulled away a part of the blanket that concealed his body and inspected his chest, checking for a sword wound. To my great relief, none was there. His fair Hylian skin had not been punctured by his own weapon. I also noticed that the features on his face were still soft. It was safe to say that Link was sleeping much more pleasantly than I was.

I gingerly placed my hand on his chest, checking for a heartbeat, and I could feel it beating steadily. Yes, he was still alive, I confirmed. I took another look at his face and then turned to look at the porthole, seeing that the pink light was becoming brighter.

I debated to myself as to whether I should try to get a few more hours of sleep before morning fully set in. I was still pretty tired, but that nightmare wasn't all that great either. It scared the living daylight out of me! I lied back on the bed and rested my head on the pillow, exhaling loudly as my head made a small thud on the fluff. I closed my eyes, despite the likelihood that I would not be able to go back to sleep as a result of the nightmare.

A few hours later the sun fully rose into the blue sky and cast its golden light into the room. When the light reached my eyes, I reluctantly and slowly opened them, hating the fact that such a harsh bright light invaded my sensitive blue eyes. When my eyes fully adjusted to the light, I sat up and looked around, almost ready to seize the day.

I turned to look at the still sleeping Link and smiled, murmuring softly, "Good morning, Link." As if on cue, his eyelids twitched and opened up. He blinked and stared at the ceiling, and then he turned his head to look at my face, letting the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile.

"Good morning, Brooke," he murmured as he sat up to see me at eye level. Suddenly we heard a loud knock on the door and a faint 'hello?' As we turned our attention towards the door, I spoke up, "It's open!" The door opened up promptly, and there in the doorway stood Candace.

"Brooke, there you are!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Candace, you look completely exasperated," I commented. "What's going on?"

"We have a problem: Kayla is really sick!"

* * *

Cookies to anyone who can guess the identity of the enemy in the nightmare! Oh, and don't forget to review - it helps. ;-D


	14. Chapter 14: Drama

Author's Notes: Well, it's about time I posted another chapter. I found this new story called _Let it Rain_ by PeridotSwan, and it inspired me to keep writing this story at a faster rate. Check it out sometime, it's pretty good.

Anyway, so college started up again, so I apologize in advance if my posts are a bit slow. But now, onto the chapter itself.

Snake: Captain Black Knight only owns this story and the OCs.

* * *

Chapter 14: Drama

"What do you mean, she is sick?" I asked, rather surprised. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Candace answered. "But she's burning up, and she can barely respond to anything."

"Well, then, take me to her. I want to get a better look at her ailment." I climbed out of bed and walked over to Candace, who looked past my shoulder at Link. He also climbed out of bed and stood up, but he decided to stay where he was, since he would rather not make the problem worse than it already was by making a scene.

I followed Candace into her room, and we both walked over to the bed where Kayla was lying, looking terrible. Her skin lost all color, and she was sweating like crazy. The features on her face were scrunched up in a pained-looking way. She was sick all right; the question is how?

I placed a hand on Kayla's forehead, feeling the high temperature slightly burning my hand in the process. On contact Kayla stirred and opened her eyes a bit. She moaned from her suffering and turned her head to look at Candace and me. She almost inaudibly muttered, "I feel like shit."

"We could tell," I replied. "I'm going to go find Meta Knight. Perhaps he can help." I turned away from the others and walked towards the door. Just as I walked out of the room, Meta Knight appeared, walking down the hall towards me. He was apparently here to check on us, but nonetheless it sure was good timing.

"Did you guys rest well?" he asked, looking a bit more cheery now than he did yesterday.

"Well, most of us did, anyway," I answered. "But that's besides the point. Kayla is sick, and she needs help now." Ignoring any possible protest from Meta Knight, I led him into the room and showed him to Kayla, who was beginning to look pale. Meta Knight jumped on the bed in order to compensate for his lack of height. He stood near Kayla's head and placed one of his gloved hands on her forehead. I wasn't sure how he was able to take her temperature through his gloves, but I decided against saying anything about it. After a moment he spoke up.

"It seems that Lady Kayla is suffering from a high fever along with other complications," he stated calmly. "She will need medical attention right away. Sir Game and Watch!" Just then, Mr. Game and Watch walked into the room and looked up at us, or at least that's what I thought he was doing. "We need to take Lady Kayla to the infirmary. Could you perhaps fetch a stretcher for us?" The flat man beeped and rushed out of the room in his usually awkward manner. Candace and I helped Kayla out of bed and onto her feet, where we supported her on both sides. Moments later Mr. Game and Watch returned wheeling a stretcher into the room. Candace and I placed Kayla on the stretcher.

"I will go with him and take Kayla there," Candace told Meta Knight and me. "It's best that she doesn't go alone. Besides, I'm too worried about her to idle by."

"Understood," Meta Knight agreed. "Sir Game and Watch, if you will, lead Lady Candace to the infirmary with Lady Kayla." With another beep, Mr. Game and Watch wheeled the stretcher out of room with Candace following behind him. Meta Knight and I walked out of the room and stood in the hall.

"I will return to speak with the rest of you in a moment," he said to me. "Right now I must head to the infirmary to make sure all goes well." I nodded and watched him turn and walk away. Since nothing else was going on at the moment, I walked back into my own room.

I saw Link looking out of the porthole, apparently bored out of his mind. He hadn't bothered to get dressed, since he was still wearing only his khaki pants, but it seemed like he had too much on his mind to care about that at the moment.

"So what is going on?" he asked me with a slight tone of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, so you already know that Kayla is sick," I replied, not too excited to be answering this question. "But she seems worse than I thought. She's pale, her body aches, and she has a fever. But worry not; Candace and Mr. Game and Watch are taking her to the infirmary right now."

"Well that is good. Hey, is everything all right? You seem…tense." This next question took me by surprise. Did I look like I was having issues?

"What? Yeah, everything is fine," I replied. "I just tossed and turned a lot last night." Link looked like he was about ask me more questions, until Meta Knight walked in on us. Link and I turned our attention to him, waiting for him to speak.

"I apologize for interrupting you two, but if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with Sir Link for a moment—in private," he requested. Link nodded and walked out of the room with Meta Knight. I walked up to the door and watched the two of them disappear down the hallway. Moments later Candace walked into my room after returning from the infirmary.

"So how is Kayla?" I inquired.

"Kayla will be fine," she replied. "She is receiving medical attention from Meta Knight's team right now. She should feel better soon."

"Well, that's good," I said with a sigh of relief. "It would be rather bad if we lost a member of our team, right?"

"True," she responded, looking rather glum. Just then her face lit up, and she changed the subject, moving her eyebrows up and down as she spoke. "So! I saw you and Link together in the same bed. How was it?" My jaw hung open at her words, understanding what she was implying. I was rather appalled by what she said to me.

"Nothing happened!" I spat in a hushed voice. "We just shared the same bed, that's all! Besides, where else was I supposed to sleep? You were with Kayla, and none of the other guys would share their rooms with me."

"Right…sure," she remarked with a slight smirk on her face and a teasing tone in her words. As we were talking we saw Snake walking past my doorway. He stopped and briefly eyed the two of us in our camisoles before he continued down the hall with a slightly reddened face. "Well anyway, I'm going back to my room. Come find me if you want to talk to me." I nodded and watched her leave the room.

_Men…_I thought as I rolled my eyes, letting my thoughts briefly focus on Snake and what he was doing a second ago. I turned around and walked towards the bed to sit on it, but I stopped when I hit the nightstand with my thigh and knocked over a small book. _Ouch, that hurt,_ I thought, rubbing the spot on my thigh that was in pain. I took a step back and turned my attention to the book that lied on the floor. I noticed that it was Link's journal, but I also noticed something else—it was open.

_Uh oh, Link's journal opened up on the floor. I should pick it up and put it back._ I picked it up and held it in my hands, but instead of closing the book and putting it back, I got another idea that wasn't exactly righteous. I got the idea to read part of Link's journal. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but my curiosity got the best of me, and I couldn't shake the temptation.

_Maybe if I read just one journal entry. Reading a little bit won't hurt, I'm sure._ I sat on the bed facing the far wall, so that no one would see me reading the journal in case they walked in on me. The journal was opened to the latest entry, so I decided to read that one. I got comfortable and began to read.

**October 24 9:53pm**

**I must say that a lot has happened in the past week. I was minding my own business until Subspace enemies started to attack this world. However, if you ask me, that isn't even the craziest thing that has happened. In fact, the craziest thing that happened was that I encountered people that aren't quite residents of this world, one of them in particular. Her name is Brooke, and she claims that she was brought here from another world along with eight of her friends. No, I'm not imagining this. **

**When I first met her, I had no time to ponder anything about her identity or her intentions due to the fact that she was being attacked by Primids at the time. Being the hero that I am, I rushed to her rescue and took out the Primids with ease. Of course, things were more complicated than I had imagined, because she had been severely injured even before I arrived. I had no choice but to take her with me and escape from any other Subspace troops that might have tried to follow us. I wasn't about to abandon her in her time of need, no matter who she is. After a few hours I managed to heal all of her wounds, and she was feeling better in no time. As we were hiding out, she told me about her situation, and then she apparently had visions of her friends. Knowing that I could trust her more, I offered to help her find her friends and a way home. Unfortunately we had no time to ask questions, because the Primids found us and forced us to flee. We did our best to fend them off, but nothing seemed to work. Just when we thought we were goners, we ran into Solid Snake. He was the one that destroyed the rest of the Primids – thank Farore he showed up!**

**Anyway, the three of us saw the Battleship Halberd and decided to pursue it. We were close to catching up to it, until Bowser and his minions stopped us and engaged us in battle. With our teamwork we defeated Bowser's army, but he had avoided the confrontation and instead surprise-attacked us. He caused Brooke to be vulnerable and planned to capture her by turning her into a trophy, but I rushed to her defense and stopped him from doing so. However, things didn't go quite as planned; I prevented Brooke from being captured, but a stray attack caused me to be turned into a trophy instead. Soon after that Bowser captured me and flew away towards the Halberd. I wasn't sure what would happen next, but since Brooke had both my sword and my shield, I wasn't too worried – at least she wasn't unarmed. Not to mention that she also had Snake's help. I don't remember much of what happened within those next few days, but I do remember seeing Brooke's reaction to the situation. It seems that she was incredibly upset by my downfall. She tried everything to bring me back, but Bowser got to me before she could do anything else. No matter – a few days later she managed to save me from my prison (in many ways). I was even impressed when I found out that she battled Dark Link to get to me. **

**That's when I learned that she encountered other people – Pit, Wolf, Marth, and two of her friends named Kayla and Candace. Soon after that we joined up with Meta Knight and engaged in a fierce battle against Duon (except for Kayla – she stayed behind to guard the control room). When we defeated it, Mr. Game and Watch returned to life only after Brooke revived him. There was a slight problem with that, though – Wolf lost his temper and took it out on her, claiming that she was being an idiot for trying to revive the thing that supposedly nearly killed us. I swear to the goddesses that I almost ripped out his throat. I wasn't about to let him mess with Brooke and get away with it. Trust me, if no one else was around, Wolf would be dead by my blade. I made sure to let him off with a good warning, though, despite the fact that I don't like him nor do I completely trust him. **

**So, once we eliminated the threat and helped Meta Knight take back his ship, he rewarded us with food and a place to sleep for the time being. It was the first time in a while that any of us have had real food or decent sleep, and it sure was nice of Meta Knight to do that for us. Right now I'm lying upon one of the beds of the sleeping quarters as I write this entry, and I'm sharing my room with Brooke. No, it's not what you think! We found out that there are more people than available rooms, so some of us had to share rooms. Seeing as the other guys were being selfish and the two other girls were already sharing a room together, I decided to be nice and share my room with her. I wasn't about to let her sleep outside in a cold, dark hallway with an uncomfortable metal floor, was I? Besides, she was grateful for it.**

**You know, there is something about her that I can't seem to understand, nor can I ignore it. After all, she is the reason that I opened up and began to talk to people more often. Yes, I'm usually a quiet person, but I've been openly talking to her and the others more often. Brooke even likes my voice. She claims that it motivates her and that it sounds sweet to her. She also told me that she likes seeing my face when I'm happy; says it makes her happy. Apparently there are a lot of things about me that make her happy. I noticed that she blushed at the sight of me without my shirt…I can't help but think that Brooke likes me. Although I must admit that I slightly reddened when I saw her wearing her camisole. There is just so much about her that intrigues me, even makes me happy. Of everyone that I've met, she is the most kindhearted and beautiful one. Not to mention she is incredibly intelligent, skilled, energetic and courageous, and she has quite the sense of humor, too. She reminds me of myself, as if I was looking at myself in the mirror when I look at her – I can't help but adore her shining blonde hair, the sparkling jewelry that complements her fair skin, and her gorgeous sapphire eyes. As bright as she is, I think it's odd how she wears mostly black clothes (with the exception of a second red shirt). Oh well, I guess that's just her style. **

**Being around Brooke definitely beats trying to constantly rescue a nearly helpless princess any day, no matter how magical she is. But that's beside the point: I've developed a dilemma as a result of conflicting thoughts between my feelings and her best interests. I understand that Brooke is trying to reunite with her friends and return to her home world, but the more I'm around her, the more I like her and the less I like that idea. I want to help her, but that would just hurt me in the end. I don't even know what to do anymore. Once this Subspace mess is over, I have to make a choice: do I beg her to stay here with me along with our new friends, or do I let her return home with her friends? I don't want to prevent her from going home, but I don't want to be separated from her either, possibly with the chance of never seeing her again. (**Insert tearstain here**) I'm convinced that some of my comrades feel the same way about her friends. I guess the only thing I can do for the time being is to appreciate the time I have with her and her friends as we try to save the world.**

**P.S. Those girls sure know how to cook!**

_Oh dear God_, I exclaimed in my head. _I never thought that he could be so sentimental. It's so sad and sweet at the same time._ I could feel myself becoming very emotional, until—


	15. Chapter 15: More Drama

Author's Notes: Well, it's been a while since the last chapter, now hasn't it? I'm sorry for the slow update. College has been beating me to a pulp even though it's only week 3 of the semester. Also, I had to take a holiday off last weekend for my birthday. However, now I'm back on track, and I'm ready to present to you this next chapter.

So, speaking of last weekend, some crazy stuff happened last weekend, and I edited this chapter to be vaguely based on the actual events of the weekend. Let's just say that I had one of the best birthdays ever.

Warning: this chapter contains drama and romance! True pairings are now starting to emerge, and you'll see more later. I figured I had to mention this to those of you that absolutely love romance fics or are pretty much disgusted by them. Well, the review that I get (hint hint) will tell me the answer to this mystery. So, on with the chapter!

P.S. This chapter is one of my personal favorites. I definitely enjoyed writing this. :-D

Wolf: Yeah, yeah, Captain Black Knight doesn't own SSBB or anything like that. Now leave me alone.

* * *

Chapter 15: More Drama

"Hey there," a voice called out from far behind me. I yelped and jumped two feet into the air, dropping the journal in the process. I turned around with an alarmed look on my face and raised my hands into the air, as if I was just busted by the cops.

"I SWEAR TO GOD I DIDN'T DO IT!" I shouted to the person who just happened to be Link. _Oh shit…I'm so busted_, I thought, catching my breath. In reaction to my outburst Link suddenly exploded into laughter, leaning against the doorway to prevent himself from falling over. I slowly lowered my hands and stared at him, incredibly confused. Was I that funny?

"I'm sorry," he said, catching his breath as he spoke. "But what you did just now…that was hilarious." I knew that Link had a sense of humor, but I never expected him to be prone to such hard laughter. Once he fully caught his breath, he continued. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you just now."

"It's all right," I replied with a heavy sigh. "I didn't notice you walking in. You should warn me next time you do that." Link nodded and smirked. He then looked past me with an inquisitive look on his face.

"What were you doing anyway?" he questioned me. I became nervous at this point, wondering if he caught me reading his journal. I ever so slightly reached down for the journal and held it behind my back and out of his sight, while I maintained a poker face.

"Oh, nothing," I lied, hoping he wouldn't see through my act. "I was just sitting here, keeping myself occupied." Link stood there for a minute, pondering on my words. Then he slowly approached the bed and crawled on top of it towards me, eyeing me intently as he moved with such grace and stealth that his movements could have rivaled those of Snake. He kept a smirk on his face as it inched closer and closer to my own. I was leaning back as he got close, and seeing as I was still sitting on the bed, I thought that he was going to knock me off with his sheer presence. Finally when our faces were mere inches away from each other, he spoke up again.

"Perhaps you'd like to tell me about what you were reading just now." The moment those words escaped his mouth I tried to keep a straight face, but that failed miserably. My eyes widened and my mouth opened with a soundless gasp – I knew I was busted. I should have known better that Link was too smart to fall for my tricks. _Oh man, he sure knows how to play good cop_, I thought, as the truth was about to reveal itself. I turned my eyes away from his face in order to relieve the pressure, but that didn't help much.

Just then I noticed the notepad on the nightstand and that it was open to the page on which I wrote. I had remembered closing the notepad last night, so why was it open now?

Noticing that notepad was a big mistake. I was momentarily distracted by it, and that gave Link the upper hand. He reached around my back and snatched his journal from my hands, pulling it away before I could do anything about it. My face reddened with embarrassment as the truth was revealed. I kept my head turned away, closing my eyes and bracing myself for his inevitable reaction.

But that reaction never occurred. Instead all was quiet for a moment. I heard the shuffling of pages and the closing of the book before Link spoke again.

"I see that you read my journal," he said in a low voice. I opened my eyes and turned to look at him, and I saw that he had turned away with a very solemn, if not depressed, look on his face. I didn't know what to do at this point but try to apologize to him for invading his privacy.

"I only read the latest entry, nothing else," I answered softly. "I'm really sorry, Link. I shouldn't have done that. Are you mad?"

"What? No, of course not!" he replied, raising his voice a bit so that I could hear him better. He lifted his head to look at me and continued. "I could never be mad at you. Besides, I should apologize to you. You see…er…I read what you wrote on the notepad while you were out." Well, this was news to me! I knew that my notepad was opened, but I never would have guessed that Link of all people would be the one to read through it when I wasn't looking.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he reddened slightly as he spoke up again, commenting, "Well, I guess we both know the truth, huh?" Link was right: both of us read through each others' writings, and we both found out what the other was thinking this whole time.

"Link," I started. "I…I don't know what to say—"

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," he cut in. "I understand everything now." I tilted my head to the side, looking just as confused as ever, despite the fact that I knew what he meant. "We both know how we feel about each other now, don't we? There is no point in hiding the truth anymore." He leaned in closer and whispered something in my ear.

"If we both love each other, then we have nothing to fear anymore." Those words suddenly reminded me of the nightmare that I had the night before. Thinking this made me shiver – not because of the cold air in the room (Meta Knight had lowered the temperature on the thermostat), but because of the new found fear of the enemy. I feared it, and I feared for my friends.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, obviously concerned. He gazed into my eyes, as if to decipher some new secret written in a foreign language. He had noticed my shivering and decided to address the problem. Keeping quiet would accomplish nothing, so I answered him.

"I'm just paranoid about what could happen next…" I said with my eyes fixed on his. I wanted to avoid telling Link about the nightmare that haunted my brain last night, including the details of him and the strange hand – I didn't want to make Link even more concerned than he already was. Instead I made up suspicions and fears about which I hadn't previously pondered – with a few exceptions. Seeming lost for words, Link merely pulled me close to his body and embraced me tightly. At first I didn't move, but then I carefully wrapped my arms around his back.

"Listen to me, Brooke," he murmured. "I promised you before that we would never be separated again, and I mean that. Nothing will come between us, no matter what threatens us." His eyes radiated with such sincerity that I had to hold back tears. I smiled meekly and rested my head against his chest.

"You're right, Link," I muttered. "I'd be a fool to think otherwise." I allowed myself to become comforted in his close embrace. As the smooth fabric of my camisole brushed against his perfect skin, I listened to the steady rhythm of his strong heart, becoming more relaxed with every beat. With every passing second the warmth of his body washed away the chill on my skin, and the pulse of his heart chased away the fear and dread that I felt from the unknown enemy.

Link ran a hand through my blonde hair while his other hand gently lifted my face up to his affectionate face. He then slowly leaned in closer and closer to me, closing his eyes in the process, until it happened – his Hylian lips met mine. My eyes widened upon contact. I was stunned.

_Oh my God! He's kissing me_, I thought. I wasn't about to complain about it, though. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, appreciating the taste of his lips on mine. I was convinced that this moment would last forever – but alas, we parted for air after several seconds. _Well, that felt good_, I mused.

Just then I heard a knock at the door. I left Link's arms and the bed to answer the door. I opened the door to reveal Meta Knight.

"Lady Brooke," he addressed me. "If you have a moment, I'd like to speak with you alone." I suppose I had some time to spare, despite the amount of time that passed as I was with Link.

"Sure," I replied. "Um…do you mind if I get dressed first?"

"Not at all, Lady Brooke," he answered. "I'll wait for you out here." I nodded a thank you as Meta Knight stood next to the door perfectly still. I shut the door and proceeded to get dressed.


	16. Chapter 16: Conversations

Author's Notes: -deep breath- Ah, I love the smell of a new chapter! Sorry about the delay; college professors decided to bury me in busy work during the past week - especially with a project and an exam at the same time! But I'm back with an update for you.

So yeah, this is pretty much another filler of the story. The plot will advance further in the next chapter or two. You ought to enjoy it, however, because I added quite a bit of humor to the chapter. I didn't make this chapter nice and lengthy for nothing.

Meta Knight: Captain Black Knight owns no part of Super Smash Bros. She only owns her OCs and this story itself.

* * *

Chapter 16: Conversations

After I got dressed and made myself look more proper, I left the room to meet with Meta Knight. He asked me to follow him, and we walked together down the corridor. After a few minutes he led me into a medium-sized room that appeared to be some sort of conference room. A single round table took up three quarters of the room, and several chairs surrounded it. As we entered the room, we took our seats next to each other.

"Would you like to tell me what this is about?" I asked.

"I knew that you would be curious," Meta Knight answered. "Well, for one thing I wanted to ask you some questions. I needed to obtain information, so I figured you would be a good person to ask."

"Oh really? Okay, I'll tell you everything I know. So what do you want to know first?"

"Yesterday you said that you would explain everything to me, so my first question is this: why are you and your friends here? Something tells me that you three are not of this world, am I right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Kayla, Candace and I are not of this world. We were brought here from another world by means of a strange vortex." I proceeded to explain the whole back-story to Meta Knight. "I'm not sure how that worked, but all we know is that we're here and that we need to return home. The problem is that we have no idea how to do that if it's even possible."

"I see. That baffles me as well. Anyway, perhaps you can explain that mark that you have." I just raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat missing his point. "I saw it on Lady Kayla's leg, and I suspect that you and Lady Candace have it as well." Realization then struck me.

"Oh, you mean this thing!" I showed Meta Knight the tattoo on my neck. I then faced him again and continued. "I don't know how these marks came to exist or why we have them, but I know that we have visions of the others upon touching them."

"Others? There are more of you?" I nodded and named off my other six friends.

"They are here as well, and they all have the same tattoo."

"Do they? They must have first appeared when all you arrived in this world. Do you know if these tattoos have any other abilities?"

"I'm not really sure. As far as I'm aware, that is the only thing that they can do – well, except for maybe communication." Meta Knight looked at me intently, wanting to know more. "This was in a dream I had last night. I was talking to my friends." I explained the dream-turned-nightmare to him, and he looked as horrified as he could with that mask of his.

"Oh dear God, that must have been traumatizing! Fortunately it was merely a nightmare. However, I have a theory that part of it was real."

"What do you mean by that? How is that possible?"

"I believe that you actually communicated with your friends. While you were sleeping, you must have touched your tattoo, activating a vision in your dream. When that happened, your friends heard you call out to them as the vision played in your brain, and they responded to you. So that conversation actually happened."

"You think so? Well, I guess it's possible." He nodded.

"Of course, this is just my theory. I could be wrong, but right now there is no evidence to disprove me. Hmm, but now I'm worried about that entity that appeared in the nightmare. Do you know anything about this hand you saw?" I shook my head in disappointment, failing to answer that question with useful information.

"No, I only saw the hand, and because it was so dark, I could barely recognize it as a hand in the first place. He told me some of his intentions, but that was about it. I'm still rather worried about this."

"You're not the only one. Something tells me that this nightmare of yours was some kind of warning, telling us that this is definitely a force with which to be reckoned. I just wish we knew more about this enemy, but at least we have a hint now. So what do you plan to do now?"

"Well, what I'd like to do is find the rest of my friends. From there we can all band together and thwart the destruction of this world and my world. Will you help me do that?"

"If it means saving both worlds and keeping my ship out of the wrong hands, then yes, I'll do whatever I can to help. I'm in your debt, after all." I thanked him and grinned. "Well, that is all I needed to know, and I thank you for speaking with me. I'll let you return to the others while I devise our next plan of attack, so to speak. In the meantime I'd appreciate it if you would send Sir Marth to see me."

"Not a problem, Meta Knight! I'll do that right now." I stood up and gave him one last glance before I walked out of the room and back towards the sleeping quarters. As I walked, I ran into Candace on the way.

"Hey Candace, how is Kayla doing?" I inquired her.

"She will be fine," she answered. "Her fever is still there, but it has gone down. She just needs to rest a while. So what are you up to?"

"I'm about to go find Marth. Want to join me?" She chirped 'okay' and tagged along. We walked to the door of Marth's room and knocked. Immediately the blue swordsman opened the door and appeared before us.

"Hello, Marth!" Candace greeted him with a wave, and he waved back. He then blurted something in Japanese, and Candace and I raised eyebrows at him. I leaned towards Candace and whispered to her.

"Do you know what he is saying?" She shook her head in response. We had no idea what Marth was saying, and I didn't think that he could speak English, so talking to him would be a problem. I had to send him to Meta Knight, however, so I tried something else.

"Eh…sprechen Sie deutsch?" I asked. Marth just sweat-dropped and looked at me as if I had just done something stupid. _Okay, that didn't work_, I thought. A minute later an idea popped into my head.

"I'll be right back," I told him. I left Candace to distract him, and I walked to another room and knocked on the door.

"Hey Snake, are you in there?" I yelled into the door. It took a while, but the door opened a minute later, and Snake appeared with a sigh and a tired look on his face.

"At least you knocked. So what's up?" he mumbled. I wanted to comment on that, but I decided against it, and instead I replied, "Listen, I need a favor from you. You can speak Japanese, right?' he nodded. "Well, I need to you to tell Marth to go see Meta Knight and that he wants to talk to him. Can you do that, please?" I grinned at Snake, hoping that would convince him. He sighed again and nodded. I thanked him and told him the directions to the conference room where Meta Knight was waiting, and we both went back to Candace and Marth. Snake relayed my message to Marth in Japanese, and the prince said something back to him and walked away.

"I guess that worked," Candace commented, impressed with Snake's multilingualism. "Since when did you learn to speak Japanese?"

"Since I mastered six languages," Snake retorted. "Now can I go back to bed?"

"You were sleeping?" I interjected. "No wonder you looked tired."

"I was just taking a nap. So can I?" I sighed and nodded to him. He smiled a bit and then went back to his room. _Wow, and I thought I slept a lot during the day_, I thought, laughing to myself. Candace also snickered about Snake, and then she spoke up.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Pit. Perhaps you can try to get Wolf out of his room, because I haven't seen him all morning."

"What? Why me?" I complained, but Candace ignored me and walked away. I sighed in annoyance. _Fine, I will go talk to Mr. Anger Management Problems_, _but don't expect it to be a good encounter_, I thought. I reluctantly walked up to Wolf's room, and I put my hand up to the door to knock. I stopped myself, however, when I heard a voice from the other side. It sounded like Wolf was talking to himself, but I wasn't sure of it. Therefore, I put my ear to the door to intently listen to Wolf's words.

"You what? What happened? … Are you serious? Who did this? … But how? … You're where? … Listen, I can't-- … No seriously, I'm busy, and I'm with others-- … All right, fine! Have someone pick me up on the Halberd Bridge. … Okay, got it."

_Well, that didn't sound like a very fun conversation_, I told myself as I lifted my ear from the door. I wanted to investigate further into the matter, so I raised my hand to the door. I was about to knock when suddenly a blur of gray fur burst through the door and bolted down the hall. Then I saw that Wolf was running through the corridor as if he was pursuing something. I had to find out what was going on, so I followed him.

After several minutes of running I followed Wolf onto the Halberd Bridge. Just yesterday the bridge was darkened by red clouds and invaded by the likes of the machine, Duon. Today the bridge was at peace, brightened by the blue sky. However, it was easy to tell that there was tension in the air. Something was bothering Wolf, and I was about to find out what it was.

"What do you want?" he interrogated. He didn't even bother to look at me, but he knew that I had followed him and that I was standing a few yards behind him. I didn't want to show signs of surprise, so I remained calm and answered him.

"You seem…troubled, Wolf," I hesitantly said, sounding concerned and serious at the same time. "Do you mind telling me why?"

"Heh, that's none of your business," he spat, shooting me a piercing glare, but that wasn't about to stop me from getting answers from the lupine.

"You know, I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me the problem," I threatened. He fully turned to look me straight in the eye and remained silent, clearly expressing that he didn't want to confess anything. I returned the same serious look into his eyes, clearly expressing that I was going to get answers from him one way or another. Neither of us looked like we were about to surrender, but after a moment of awkward silence, he gave up and sighed as he looked down at the wooden floor of the bridge.

"Fine, I'll tell you. I was communicating with my associate, Panther. He sent a message to me about some kind of emergency, and he says that I need to return to my crew to resolve the sudden problem. He's sending transportation to get me now."

"Wait a minute, you're leaving?" He nodded. "So you're just going to ditch us after all the help you gave us!"

"Listen, I have no choice. If I could stay, I probably would, but that's not the case." He paused, and then continued. "If it's any consolation, I might come back to find you guys and help out – once this emergency is resolved, that is. Deal?" He smirked and extended a paw. I took a minute to ponder this offer that he made, and a few seconds later I tightly gripped his paw with my own hand, a smirk forming on my face. With a firm handshake, we stared intently at each other eye-to-eye.

"I suppose that works for me," I answered as we let go of each other's hands, or paw in his case. Suddenly a blood-red Wolfen flew over our heads and landed near us. The hatch opened, ready to claim its pilot. I guessed that the aircraft was remote-controlled, since there was nobody visibly inside the cockpit. Wolf walked over to his ship, but then he stopped to look at me again.

"By the way, I'm sorry about yesterday," he confessed. "I was wrong to act like that. If you could, tell the others I apologize as well."

"Thanks, apology accepted." I replied with a grin and a thumbs-up. "I'll be sure to inform the others." Wolf copied me with a smirk and a thumbs-up, before he jumped into the Wolfen and flew away into the distance. As I watched him leave, I thought to myself, _Bastard! We don't need him anyway. Oh well, at least he apologized._ One must remember that I didn't like Wolf, nor did I completely trust him, so his departure was probably all for the better.

Suddenly I heard a faint sound coming from another direction. I didn't know what the sound was at first, but the sound slowly grew louder by the second. A moment later I guessed that the sound was of roaring engines. Following the direction of the sound, I found its source – a small speck in the sky. I peered at the speck, as it grew larger.

_What could that be?_ I asked myself. _Why is it coming this way?_ As the shape of the speck became more evident and the sound of roaring engines more obvious, I recognized the object in the sky as Samus' gunship. Something was wrong, however – the ship was attacking us!

"Damnit!" I yelled as the ship fired lasers at the Halberd. "This can't be good! I better warn the others!" I took off towards the interior of the Halberd as fast as humanly possible. Hopefully I wasn't too late. When I found Meta Knight, I stopped him and blurted my warning.

"Meta Knight, we have to get to the control room now! Samus is attacking us!" I bolted towards the direction of the control room before he could say anything, so he had to fly rather quickly just to keep up with me. When we got into the control room, we saw Mr. Game and Watch returning fire. I pushed him away from the control panel and grabbed the intercom microphone.

"SAMUS ARAN, HOLD YOUR FIRE!" I yelled into it. "I REPEAT, DO NOT FIRE! THIS IS BROOKE AND META KNIGHT! WE MEAN YOU NO HARM! I REPEAT, NO HARM!" Meta Knight just stared at me skeptically, wondering why I was suddenly acting in such a manner. Apparently my message worked, because the Gunship ceased fire and landed on the Halberd Bridge.

"Well, that is fortunate," Meta Knight commented, clearly relieved by this action. "Perhaps we should go out to greet the new arrivals." I nodded, and Meta Knight issued a command to Mr. Game and Watch to man the ship. After that the two of us fled the control room and dashed towards the bridge, but not before I briefly apologized to Mr. Game and Watch for shoving him.


	17. Chapter 17: A New Coalition

Author's Notes: And we have another delay for you. I swear that half of the reason is not my fault. decided to prevent anyone from logging into their accounts in order to add some new features, and that lasted a few days. The other reason?? Well, college busywork again...I have two exams and a project due next week, along with all of the other crap I have to do.

Alright, enough of my rambling. Behold! Another chapter! I apologize for the short length of the chapter, but this is the most I could write without revealing too much at once. Besides, you'll like how the chapter ends, trust me.

Solid Snake: Captain Black Knight owns her OCs and this story. That's about it... -goes back to bed- ...zzz...

* * *

Chapter 17: A New Coalition

We made our way to the Halberd Bridge, and we stood near Samus' Gunship as the engines were shutting down. Meta Knight and I looked on in awe as the ship opened up to reveal the pilot – along with a few others. Samus had apparently brought friends, but what Meta Knight didn't know was that they were my friends.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you guys are here!" I cried as I ran up to my two friends with great enthusiasm. "Meta Knight, meet Jim and Will!" I pointed to the two of them respectively.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Sir Jim and Sir Will," Meta Knight greeted them. Jim shook Meta Knight's hand, but Will kept his distance and stood by his companion, Kirby. Samus then approached us and removed her helmet.

"This is a surprise," she commented. "I wasn't aware that you three knew each other."

"You got that right!" I replied. "It's nice to meet you, Samus. The name's Brooke!" I beamed and extended my hand towards Samus, who in turn grasped it in a handshake and smiled. It was safe to assume that Jim and Will had previously explained everything, since Samus appeared to understand almost everything that was going on.

"I must ask you, Lady Samus," Meta Knight cut in. "What brings the four of you here? Why did you attack us?"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," she answered. "We were convinced that the Halberd was still under enemy possession, so we opened fire on it. But when we received the cease-fire call from Brooke, we understood that everything was fine, so we stopped our attack. Anyway, we managed to escape from the research facility, and so we changed our plan of attack." Meta Knight nodded.

As we engaged in conversation, the others – minus Kayla – joined up with our small group, fully dressed, equipped, and ready to battle. However, to their disappointment, there was no battle to be had. I made light of the situation by introducing everyone to each other, and they all made their greetings.

"Well, it's a regular party!" Will commented, eyeing Snake with a slightly intimidated look. I looked from person to person, and then something on Jim's hand caught my attention.

"Hey Jim, it looks like you have that tattoo as well, eh?" I pointed out to him.

"Yup!" he responded, lifting his left hand to reveal the Smash Bros. tattoo branded upon it. "We figured out that we could use these tattoos to see you and the others. Will has it, too." Jim pointed to Will, who in turn, as if on cue, opened his button-down shirt to reveal the same tattoo printed on the center of his chest.

"Indeed," Will cut in. "Last time I touched this tattoo, which was about ten minutes ago, I had visions of you guys."

"So what did you see?" Candace inquired as Will buttoned up his shirt.

"First of all, I saw Kayla in a bed looking rather sick." Candace and I sweat-dropped, already knowing that bit of information, but Will continued anyway. "Also, I saw Jess, Lex and the gang climbing aboard the Great Fox, and they we're headed towards some giant floating island. Meanwhile, Renee and Kitty managed to rescue Pikachu, so now they're infiltrating some bomb factory with Zelda, Peach and Captain Falcon."

"Hmm, I guess they decided not to wait up for us," I muttered. Will was about to ask about my thoughts, but then Jim interrupted us.

"Hey, what's that over there?" he asked, pointing his finger towards the sky. Everyone's eyes followed his gesture, and what we saw next astounded us: the sky looked like it had been torn, and this new 'tear' in the sky looked like a combination of Subspace and the vortex that originally brought us here.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Candace exclaimed as the rest of us gasped at this new sight. "That wasn't there before!"

"What exactly is that?" Samus questioned us, looking incredibly confused.

"That, my friends," I started. "That is the vortex that brought us here in the first place. When we were sucked into this world from ours, that vortex was responsible for connecting the two worlds together. I suppose that connection is still there."

"If that's the case, couldn't we all just go through that vortex and head home right now?" Will inquired.

"NO!" I cried. Everyone looked at me with wide eyes, and I realized that I suddenly raised my voice. "I mean—I don't think so. That vortex looks like it's infected by Subspace, and I think that…the Subspace is spreading through the vortex and into our world." That last statement triggered gasps from the others. "So we can't leave through that vortex until the Subspace has been eradicated, and that means that we have to save both worlds from the Subspace Emissary…whoever it is."

"So what do we do now?" Candace asked sounding more concerned now than ever.

"We stay here, find the others, and fight." I answered with great determination. "So who's with me?" An awkward silence fell upon the group, and it lasted for several seconds, until Link broke the silence.

"I'm always with you, Brooke," he assured me. Some of the others just looked at him, but then they turned their attention to me, and one by one they all made their decisions.

"You have my support, Lady Brooke," Meta Knight said as he courteously bowed to me.

"Friends stick together, right?" Candace interjected.

"Well, I say we go for it," Snake stated. From a distance I heard a loud beep. I guessed that Mr. Game and Watch had been listening to us, and decided to throw in his support.

"Okay!" Kirby piped up. Marth gave me the thumbs-up and smiled in confirmation.

"If there's action, count me in," Samus answered.

"The fight is on!" Pit cried his trademark phrase.

"I'm by your side the whole way," Jim commented. Will didn't say anything for a moment, but then he decided to speak.

"Fine, I'm in," he said bluntly, almost reluctantly.

"Good, then that's everyone!" I confirmed.

"Not quite everyone!" a voice cried out. I quickly turned around to see the source of the voice, and to my utter surprise, it was Kayla. She had left the infirmary and joined us, since she was apparently in good health in such a short time. "Don't forget about me. I want in on this, too!"

"Kayla!" I cried. "How did you get better so soon?"

"I found some Megavitamins near my bed," she replied with a wide grin. "They're pretty effective!" I blinked and stared at her, but after a few seconds I sighed and laughed a bit.

"Hey, wait a minute," Snake interrupted us, frantically looking around and then at me. "Where did Wolf go?"

"Oh, he left," I commented bluntly, not really wanting to further discuss the issue. "He said he had to take care of some emergency. Anyway, thanks for your support, guys! Since we have a unanimous vote, let's go save the world—er…both of them!" Suddenly we all heard a sound that wasn't exactly positive.

"Oh fudge," Meta Knight muttered. We then noticed that the Halberd was slowly flying lower, and the sound was that of sputtering and engines powering down. "The ship is low on fuel. We have to make an emergency landing." Mr. Game and Watch proceeded to land the Halberd safely onto the ground below. It's impressive how he already knew what he was doing after a mere day of flight training – unless you count the numerous Mr. Game and Watch copies previously flying the Halberd for who knows how long.

"Aww, that's just great," Will said sarcastically as he face-palmed. "Now what do we do?"

"Worry not, Sir Will," Meta Knight answered him. "We simply have to refuel the ship, and that shouldn't be too much trouble." Will decided against asking further into the matter. So the new coalition gathered closer together and looked on as the Halberd made its uncalled-for landing.


	18. Chapter 18: Return of an Enemy

Author's Notes: Hey, thank you so much for 2000 hits! I feel special now! :-D

Anyway, here's the next chapter. We now return to the battle scenes, but there's still a few more filler scenes before we return to the major plot. Just bear with me, people.

Samus: Captain Black Knight doesn't own Super Smash Bros. Only her OCs and this story.

* * *

Chapter 18: Return of an Enemy

During the late afternoon the Battleship Halberd made a fairly rough but safe landing in a rather large clearing that was surrounded by a forest – near a canyon – on one side and a river on the other side. When the Halberd came to a complete stop, the engines finally gave out and completely shut down. At that point the ship wouldn't be flying anytime soon.

"So here's my question, Meta Knight," Will said. "You said that refueling the ship wouldn't be too much trouble. How exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Allow me to explain," Meta Knight answered. "The Halberd has the ability to automatically regenerate its fuel supply. However, that cannot happen while the Halberd is in flight, so it must be landed and powered down in order to do so."

"So you're telling us that we have to just wait for it?" Jim interjected as he was cleaning his glasses. "How long is that going to take?"

"Unfortunately the refueling process can take up to several hours," Meta Knight answered with a tone of disappointment. "There isn't much we can do about that in the meantime. However, there are some things that I must take care of while we wait. Would anyone like to help?"

An awkward silence fell upon the group as we exited the Halberd. Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch looked around at the others and decided to volunteer for whatever job Meta Knight could give them.

"Excellent," he praised them. "I need you two to watch the fuel gauges near the back interior of the ship. Keep track of the gauges – there should be five of them – and immediately let me know when they have reached the maximum point. Am I clear?" Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch gave him their own unique gestures indicating that Meta Knight's instructions made sense. The two of them then ran off inside the Halberd to report for duty.

"So, now I need a few mechanics. Who is up for the job?" Meta Knight looked from person to person before Will and Snake raised their hands. Meta Knight proceeded to give them their instructions and direct them to the bridge and the engine room. "Good! Now I need a few helpers to come with me into the control room. I need to fix that windshield." Jim and Samus immediately volunteered to help him and rushed right away to the top tier of the ship.

"I'll be with you in a few minutes!" Meta Knight shouted after them before turning to the rest of us. "As for the rest of you…I need a few guards and a few people to gather supplies. Who can do those things for me?" Kayla and Marth offered to guard the ship and headed to their posts near the front of the ship. Pit, Candace, Link and I offered to gather supplies.

"Before you four wander off, I must tell you this: the sun is setting soon, and so the surrounding area will become incredibly dark. I must ask that you all keep your guard up; the last thing we need is some freak accident. Understood?" We all nodded. "Great, now, here's the situation: We won't be able to fly until tomorrow morning, so we should rest here for the night. We only have six rooms in the ship, and there are thirteen people now. Therefore it is best that we all camp outside the ship tonight. Is that okay?"

"I have no problem with that," Pit replied in a slightly cheery tone. The rest of us agreed with nods. Meta Knight then told us what we needed to gather for tonight, and the four of us set off to fulfill his needs.

"Hey, Brooke," Candace spoke up. "Pit and I will look for firewood in the forest. You and Link can head to the river to get water. Sound good?"

"Sure," I said to her. "We can do that. Just be careful, all right?" Candace and Pit gave Link and me the thumbs-up and then rushed off into the forest. Link and I just looked at each other, wondering if they would actually stay out of trouble. "Well, come on, Link. We have work to do." I walked off towards the river, and Link followed.

"It seems like we have the easy job, huh?" Link mused. I guessed that he had sensed that I was suspicious of the situation for no apparent reason and that he was trying to make light of it. We made our way to the river and began to collect water into the bottles that Link just happened to conveniently have on hand. After that I sat down next to the river's edge and stared at the crystal clear water. I kept my silence with the exception of a sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Link asked me as he sat next to me. I didn't immediately answer him, since I didn't want to talk about it all that much. Then again, I needed to talk to someone about it besides Meta Knight, who seemed to slightly brush it off as being not as important as I thought it was.

"I have this feeling," I started. "It's this feeling that someone is watching us right now, and that particular someone might strike at any moment."

"Would it have anything to do with that nightmare of yours?" he asked. I snapped my head towards Link and blinked at him. I didn't know that he found out about the dream-turned-nightmare.

"Who told you that?" I interrogated him in a slightly appalled tone.

"Oh, I overheard Meta Knight talking about it to someone," he calmly answered. I was miffed by the fact that Meta Knight decided to tell the others about his conversation with me. I expected him to keep that private unless I decided otherwise, but he didn't honor that. Then again, what I had told him seemed way too important to simply keep a secret – I couldn't blame him for that, could I?

"You know," he continued. "He didn't mention all of the details of this nightmare. Do you want to tell me about it?" I stared at Link, thinking that he was just being nosy, but then I changed my mind and suspected that he was truly concerned about it. As much as I didn't want to talk about it, I also couldn't ignore him.

I proceeded to explain to Link every detail of the dream-turned-nightmare – the conversation with Jess, Lex and the others, the mysterious and evil hand, his warning/threat, the death of Link along with everyone else – I even mentioned the part when I abruptly woke up and checked to make sure that Link was still alive. Link gave me his full, undivided attention and listened to every word I had to say, and when I finished my explanation, he simply looked mortified. He didn't say anything for several seconds, but afterwards he spoke up again.

This…this can't be," Link murmured as he absentmindedly clutched his chest. He stared at me with the most terrified eyes I've seen yet. He then asked me, "Do you know anything specific about this hand?"

"I know very little of it," I answered. "The scene was very dark when I saw it, so I didn't exactly get the best view of it. Its voice was very loud, powerful, and incredibly intimidating. It seemed to have a high intelligence of the fighters here." Link pondered that for a moment and then spoke up again.

"Did it seem to look like a glove…a white glove?" I pondered that for a minute and then nodded. Suddenly Link's terrified look changed to a look of resentment as his face turned away from mine. His right hand curled up into a fist as it shook. I also heard a rather low growl as he gritted his teeth.

"What? What's wrong, Link?" I didn't understand why my response made him react like this.

"Master Hand," he hissed. "I should have known that he was behind all of this!"

"What? So that was Master Hand? I knew that he was a nuisance, but why would he be causing all this trouble?" His hand relaxed, and the features on Link's face softened a bit – yet they still kept the same resenting look – as he turned to face me again.

"Master Hand isn't exactly the kind of character that one could trust. He oftentimes forces us to fight, and when we refuse to do so, he confronts us himself, and so we must fight him time and time again in order to prevent him from overwhelming us. I suppose that he is taking drastic measures this time, threatening to eradicate our existence if we don't abide by his rules."

I didn't really know what to say to that. I thought it strange that Master Hand, of all possible enemies, would be the one plotting to destroy us via Subspace. After all, why would he want to do that? Couldn't he just easily take over this one world, rather than go through all the trouble of replacing it with another world? Why would he recruit Smashers like Bowser to do his bidding? Is he the sole commander of the Subspace Army? I had a suspicion that he was not the only mastermind behind this vile plan, especially if the Ancient Minister was somehow involved. However, I decided to set that theory aside for the moment, since we at least had this one lead on the matter.

"If that's the case, then…what can we do about it?" I asked, only knowing half the answer. Link reacted by holding my hand in his and changing the look on his face from resentment to optimism.

"Listen to me, Brooke," he started in a low voice. "I'm confident that we can defeat him. As long as everyone works together to fight him, he's finished, and there is nothing that he can do about it! Am I right?" As I was thinking of something to say, I stared into his sapphire eyes, seeing flames of determination burn in them. It was evident that Link was highly motivated to defeat Master Hand and destroy Subspace, perhaps for more than just the obvious reason. Was revenge a factor? Or maybe it was compassion? All the same I agreed with him.

"You're right, Link," I replied with a small sigh. "We're sure to succeed with all the help we have. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

I was about to regret those words.

"OH SHI—" a loud voice ruined the peace as it tore through the air and echoed in the dusk. Both of us flinched and turned our attention to the area behind us.

"What the hell was that?!" Link blurted as he stood up abruptly.

"That sounds like Candace!" I answered, also standing up. "She and Pit are probably in trouble! Follow me, Link!" I took off in the direction of the forest and towards the source of the voice. Link followed close behind, yelling various forms of protest, but I ignored him and kept going. Eventually we ended up at the entrance to a cave that appeared to have been recently excavated. Somehow I was sure that the voice came from this cave and that Candace and Pit were inside. Whatever was going on in there didn't sound very good.

"Are you sure we should be entering this cave?" Link asked with a slight tone of doubt. "For all we know, they're probably not in there. Besides, it's getting dark, and we shouldn't be out here."

"We can't just abandon Candace and Pit," I retorted. "Come on, Mr. Triforce-of-Courage, we have to help them." Ending on that note, I entered the cave. Link sighed and shook his head as he followed me inside.

The cave turned out to be a rather large tunnel. I wasn't sure if it had a dead end or not, but I was about to find out. Link brought out his lantern and lit it, illuminating the rocky walls of the tunnel. As we ventured deep into the tunnel, the light from the lantern flame flickered and danced on the walls, and that caused me to tense up a bit and become slightly paranoid of my surroundings. Along the way we could hear faint sounds of voices and the sounds of battle. The further we treaded forward, the louder the sounds became. Soon I could hear the distinct sounds of familiar voices.

"CANDACE!" I shouted as the echo reverberated throughout the dirt walls. "PIT! ARE YOU IN HERE?" At first there was no response, and I was a bit worried, so I shouted for them again. This time someone answered back.

"YEAH, WE'RE HERE!" It was Candace. "WE COULD USE A HAND RIGHT ABOUT NOW!" Instinctively I rushed to their aid, leaving Link in the dust again, despite his capability to easily keep up with me. The tunnel led to a dead end, but the dead end turned out to be a very large dirt room, barely lit by Pit's light bow and Link's lantern.

"Candace, Pit, you are here!" I cried, seeing them here. "What happened?" Upon seeing them I noticed that both of them were battered and bruised, suffering from small burns and cuts on their bodies. One of Pit's wings looked bent out of shape, and Candace had a black eye.

"Brooke, I suggest that you look up there," Link interjected, pointing his finger in an upward direction past Pit and Candace. What I saw next made me flinch and widen my eyes.

"GALLEOM?!" I exclaimed. Candace and Pit had run into none other than Galleom, the machine of the wilds and another boss of Subspace. "I thought that he was defeated!" Apparently the sight before me proved me wrong. I had first assumed that the hands of Jess and Ike vanquished him, but somehow he managed to avoid such a fate and encounter Candace and Pit. He must have been the one that created this tunnel and the giant dead end room, but did he do this before or after he found the two of them? Was he chasing them and cornering them?

"Yeah, that's Galleom, all right," Pit commented. "He found us and caused trouble for us, so we tried to fight back, but nothing worked, and now we're pretty beat up." The machine called Galleom reared its ugly metal head in my direction, just now noticing Link and me as its eyes lit up in rage. He labeled us as targets and rose up to fight again, pounding his mechanical fist into the ground and causing it to rumble violently. Link and I were almost thrown off balance, but we maintained our stances. I had to act fast.

"Candace, Pit!" I called out to them. "You two need to get out of here now! Link and I will handle this brute!"

"What?" Link interrupted. "We can't take on this thing by ourselves!"

"We can certainly try, Link!" I snapped. "If we can't destroy him, we can at least weaken him. Just trust me on this!" Link fell silent and gazed at me with a look of dismay, as if he was regretting his decision to stay and fight. I turned to Candace and Pit again. "You two are badly wounded, so you need to head back to the Halberd and relay this to Meta Knight. Don't worry about us; if we don't return in twenty minutes, send help. Got it?" They looked at each other inquisitively and then at me, and they both nodded simultaneously.

"You better be careful, or Galleom won't be the one to kill you!" Candace yelled as she and Pit escaped the tunnel as quickly as possible, despite their injuries. Once they left, Link and I turned our attention to Galleom, who bellowed a loud mechanical roar. Link brandished his Master Sword and Hylian Shield, and I whipped out my Beam Sword. We took our battle stances and braced ourselves, ready for the worst.


	19. Chapter 19: Man Versus Machine

Author's Notes: Okay, I think it's about time I submit another chapter! Sorry about the long wait. Tekkoshocon VII was at the top of my priorities list (tied with college work). But now that it's over and my huge workload for the week is done, I can do more fanfiction work.

So, I think you guys are going to like this chapter. The action starts up again, and we get our first battle scene in a while - oh, did I mention it's a boss battle? Yep, prepare the battle music. -'One Winged Angel' randomly booms through giant speakers- MY EARS! _* Anyway, onto the chapter, if I'm not deaf after that.

By the way, PM me if you want to see my cosplay pics.

Link: Captain Black Knight owns only her OCs and this story, not Super Smash Bros. If she owned rights to SSB, then I don't want to know what she would do with it...

* * *

Chapter 19: Man Versus Machine

Link and I could tell that Galleom wasn't going to go easy on us. Fortunately, the room was big enough for a fight. There's nothing that ruins an epic battle quite like a cramped space. Clearly Galleom was glaring at our blades, as if understanding that this fight wasn't going to be easy for either side.

The machine made the first move, jumping high into the air – as high as the dirt ceiling permitted, anyway – and them came plummeting down on us. We leaped out of the way before he could crush us beneath his feet. The resulting shockwave knocked us off our feet, however, nearly causing us to drop our weapons. I dashed towards Galleom's feet and slashed at one of them while he was still recovering. The plasma blade didn't have enough power to sever the mechanical limb, but it certainly left a deep gash in the armor.

Link also took a stab at the other foot, just barely leaving a dent in the plate metal. Apparently Link's Master Sword had less of an effect on the armor than my energy sword. He backflipped away, causing Galleom to miss hitting him with a purple fist, and then he bashed the fist with the Hylian Shield, again leaving slightly more damage to the hand than the foot due to the lack of armor on it. Nonetheless, it seemed to be resistant to significant damage.

"Link, I think you need to try something else!" I called to him. "Do you have any Bomb Arrows?" Link immediately answered my question by sheathing his sword and whipping out the Hero's Bow – he still had the shield attached to his arm. He attached a lit bomb to one of the arrows and aimed it at Galleom's face. When the time was right, he released the arrow and struck the target perfectly. The Bomb Arrow exploded in the machine's face, blinding him and causing a great deal of damage to the iron mask that it wore.

"That's perfect, Link! Keep that up!" I shouted. I took advantage of Galleom's vulnerability by continuing to slash and stab at the foot I originally attacked, eventually sinking my blade into the machinery beneath the armor. Sparks of electricity crackled at the site of the damage, and Galleom could clearly feel it – if machines had feelings, that is.

Obviously he wasn't too happy about that, for Galleom started having a temper tantrum. He stomped all around the room, crushing the ground wherever he landed, almost crushing me. I managed to avoid his feet, but the ground below me had caved inward, rendering me stuck in the cracks of the earth.

"Grr…damnit! I can't move!" I muttered as I struggled to free myself from the dirt. Both Link and Galleom noticed my predicament and acted upon it. Galleom was about to bring his foot down on me and finish me when Link dove towards me, tackling me away from the iron limb before it could connect. We quickly rose to our feet and backed away from the cyborg.

"Thanks," I muttered. "Change of plans: I'll distract him while you attack the mask with Bomb Arrows. Got it?" He nodded and dashed to the other side of room and out of Galleom's line of sight. The second that Galleom focused his attention on me, I started to shout out random insults and display offensive gestures towards his general direction. That really pissed him off.

Galleom reacted just as I wanted him to react – well, almost. He focused his attack on me, completely ignoring Link, who was preparing more Bomb Arrows. The problem was that Galleom performed his spinning attack, and thus Link couldn't get a clear shot at the iron mask. The second that Galleom stopped spinning, Link released the Bomb Arrows and shot the iron mask.

"Yes! Direct hit!" Link exclaimed, proud of his archery skills. Galleom roared and screeched, as he was blinded again by the explosion that seared his face. However, he reacted in a way that we didn't expect. He flailed his metal-coated arms around in a wide radius. We dodged out the way of his temper tantrum, but one of his arms eventually slammed directly into Link. Not only was Link sent flying and colliding with the rock wall, but Galleom's giant fist also crushed him, leaving cracks and a dent in the wall. The bloodcurdling cry of agonizing pain reached my ears and made me cringe.

"LINK!" I shouted as I dashed towards him, muttering curses under my breath. When Galleom moved his hand, Link's body slid down the wall and onto the dirt floor, where it lied motionlessly.

"Link, please tell me you're okay," I uttered to him, lightly shaking his shoulder. He did not respond, however. The force of the machine's attack was enough to severely injure Link and render him unconscious, but it was not enough to turn him into a trophy. To make things worse, Galleom was moving towards us, ready to strike again.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM, YOU GIANT PINHEAD!" I shouted to the machine. I wasn't sure if he ignored the insult or took it to heart (if it had one), since he reared his arms back and prepared to deliver the finishing blow. There was nothing I could do – if I dodged out of the way, he would crush Link and turn him into a trophy. If I stayed with him, Galleom would crush us both. If I tried to move Link, neither of us would be able to get out of the way in time. It seemed like a lose-lose situation.

I knelt over Link to protect him, bracing myself for whatever would happen next, when suddenly a dark wave and light sparkles caught my attention. They completely covered Galleom and paralyzed him. The room became darker and to the point where I could see nothing.

"KNOW MY POWER!" a low and powerful voice bellowed out as everything became pitch-black. I thought my heart skipped a beat during the moment of silence. Then—FLASH! A bright light slashed through the darkness – and through Galleom as well. When the room brightened, I saw the source of the slash: a short character with a spiked sword.

"Meta Knight!" I cried. "How did you find us?"

"Sir Pit and Lady Candace sent me to find you and lend you a hand," he calmly stated, putting his sword away. He and I turned our attention to the kneeling Galleom. His armor had been slashed, including his mask, and parts of his body crackled with electricity. We assumed that he had been defeated, until he did something else that we didn't expect.

Galleom knocked Meta Knight away, grabbed Link and me in each of his purple hands and activated a Subspace Bomb hidden in his head. He used his jet-propelled legs to lift off, and he burrowed through the ceiling, creating yet another tunnel leading upward. Meta Knight barely had a chance to react, but nonetheless he flew up after us.

"GAH! I can't move again!" I shouted. "Let us go, you brute!" Clearly Galleom ignored us. He intended to self-destruct and release Subspace, taking Link and me with him. Eventually he burrowed his way out of the dirt, and he rocketed into the air. Meanwhile, I struggled to break free. Fortunately, I managed to get my sword arm free. I sliced at the fist that was holding me, severing it and causing it to release its grip on me. I then jumped off the fist and used my momentum to reach the other fist and slice it off, causing it to release its grip on Link.

Both of us were incredibly high in the air, and the bomb was about to detonate. As we plummeted towards the earth at a fast rate, I reached for Link and held onto him, bracing for impact into the ground. That's when Meta Knight caught us in midair and gently placed us onto the ground. The bomb exploded several yards above us, and Subspace expanded in the night. To our relief we were far enough away that it couldn't absorb us.

"That was…too close," I said as I was on my hands and knees, breathing heavily.

"Indeed," Meta Knight muttered, looking at Link. "So what happened to Sir Link?" I answered him when I caught my breath and put away my Beam Sword.

"Galleom crushed him against the wall." I crawled over to Link to check him again. This time blood flowed from open wounds on the side of his head and his shoulder, and several bones appeared to be broken, as parts of his body contorted in unnatural ways. "He's in bad shape." Noticing that Link could die at any moment, I tried not to panic, suppressing any emotions I had and instead focusing on helping him.

"We're too far away from the Halberd, so we have to heal him right here and now." Meta Knight sounded stressed as I was. I nodded and thought of something I could do. I didn't exactly carry a first-aid kit with me everywhere I went, so this would pose as a challenge.

I took off one of my shirts and wrapped it around the bloody shoulder, tying it tightly to suppress the bleeding. Meta Knight handed me a handkerchief, and I placed it on the wound of Link's head, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Well, that should work for now," Meta Knight stated. "Do either of you have any healing items?" I shook my head, but then I searched through the pouches on Link's belt. I managed to find a small bottle filled with blue liquid. _A blue potion?_ I thought. _I guess he saved this for a dire situation._ Of course, seeing as this was a dire situation, I decided to use it on him.

I carefully propped up Link's upper body on my leg and held his head up, parting his lips. Opening the bottle, I poured the blue liquid into his mouth and down his throat. When the bottle was empty, I set it down and waited, watching Link intently to see if anything happened. Meta Knight did the same. It took a few minutes, but Link then stirred and opened his eyes.

"Damn cyborg," was all he muttered in a weak voice. His eyes then focused on me and blinked. I guessed that the blue potion worked. Link's wounds fully healed, including the broken bones. "What happened?" I beamed at him, clearly relieved to see him okay.

"It's good to see that you're in good health, Sir Link," Meta Knight cut in. "Galleom attacked you and Lady Brooke, but I rushed in to help and defeated him. He, however, activated a Subspace Bomb and took you two with him. We were fortunate enough to avoid the resulting explosion of Subspace, and now we are here, outside of the inner tunnel."

"Where exactly is here?" Link asked as he stood up, tucked the bottle into his pouch and looked around. I also looked around as I took back my now bloodstained shirt. What I noticed shocked me. The area was incredibly familiar and not exactly the best place to be at the moment. A low rumbling noise reached our ears, and the ground shook. We were standing at the top of a mountain, but not just any mountain.

"Guys," I said, getting their attention. "Welcome to Spear Pillar." Both swordsmen looked at me strangely, as if I had just spoken Russian. There was no time to explain it, however, as the apparent earthquake became greater, and suddenly two portals opened up on either side of Spear Pillar.

I could literally hear the ominous theme music of Spear Pillar…

Out of each portal appeared a giant creature with menacing looks. One creature was a giant, blue and silver steel-dragon-looking thing with a fan-thing on its back that stood on all fours. Its red eyes stood out on its elongated head, and a bright diamond was lodged into the center of its chest. The other creature was a giant white/pink dragon with wings that stood on two back legs. Its red eyes also stood out on its rounded head, and two pink pearls were lodged into its shoulders.

Meta Knight and Link flinched at the sight of these new creatures as they faced each of them. My attention went back and forth to each creature and to the two swordsmen. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"What are these creatures?" Meat Knight interrogated to no one in particular, clearly astonished by the sight. Both creatures roared at Meta Knight's question and glared at us with their crimson eyes.

"They're Pokémon!" I answered. "Dialga and Palkia!"


	20. Chapter 20: Dealing With the Deities

Author's Notes: So I spent my college break working on new chapters (and playing Pokemon Platinum, yes I admit it), and now I have here a new chapter for all of you before I head back to class tomorrow...well, actually it would be today, but not for several hours. Erm...anyway, here's the next exciting chapter. Enjoy!

By the way, as I said last chapter, I would show you guys my cosplay pictures. Well, some of you did PM me about that, so for those of you that made requests, I put a link to my cosplay pictures in my profile. So, feel free to head over to my profile and get that link to my pics.

Pit: Captain Black Knight only owns this story and the OCs. Don't ask me why I'm doing the disclaimer this time.

* * *

Chapter 20: Dealing With the Deities

"Pokémon?!" Link exclaimed as he stood his ground facing Dialga, clearly astounded by my answer. I gazed into the crimson eyes of both giant Pokémon and started to explain.

"Dialga and Palkia are both deity Pokémon," I started. "The blue one, Dialga, is a steel-dragon type with the power to control time. The pink one, Palkia, is a water-dragon type with the ability to control space."

"Time and space?" Meta Knight inquired incredulously as he kept his guard up against Palkia. "That seems impossible. How could these beings be capable of such abilities?" Honestly I couldn't find an answer to that question, since I didn't know it myself – all I knew was that my explanation was the truth.

"I don't know, Meta Knight. I just know that it's true."

"Well, are they a threat to us?" Link asked, gripping the hilt of the Master Sword.

"I don't know about that, either. Don't attack just yet." Meta Knight and Link both stared at me before backing down. I looked up and contemplated the situation.

The only guess that I could make was that the explosion of Subspace somehow disturbed the peace of the two deities. When they realized that something was threatening the Spear Pillar, they appeared in order to confront that something. It made sense to me, at least, since the Subspace nearly engulfed the Spear Pillar. But did Dialga and Palkia view the three of us as a threat? I would certainly hope not, since we didn't do anything.

At that moment Palkia screeched and slashed the air with one of its pink/white arms. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but suddenly I was facing Dialga instead of Palkia.

"What the hell?" I blurted out loud. "Wasn't I just facing Palkia? Now I'm looking at Dialga." Dialga was glaring daggers at Link, who in turn kept his hand on the hilt of the Master Sword, should the steel-dragon Pokémon make a sudden move.

"Wait, Link, don't do anything yet," I called to him. I dashed towards him, but for some reason he kept getting farther away from me as I ran. I finally noticed that as I was running towards Link, I was instead going backwards – and right into Meta Knight, knocking him over.

"Oof, sorry, Meta Knight," I muttered, looking at him with an embarrassed look. Meta Knight simply looked confused as I was. I turned around again to face Dialga and Link, who for some reason was still gripping the Master Sword with…his right hand?

"Link, aren't you left-handed?" I also noticed that Meta Knight had his sword in his left hand, when he normally held it in his right hand. It took me a while, but I then realized that Palkia activated its Spacial Rend ability to flop the surroundings and create a mirror image, causing my movements to become inverted. But just as I made this realization, Palkia waved its arm and reverted everything back to normal.

"Well, that was weird," I muttered again.

"Lady Brooke, you're confusing me greatly," Meta Knight spoke. "What just happened?"

"Palkia distorted space and caused everything to become inverted. That's how I ran backwards into you instead of running forwards towards Link."

"Oh, no wonder you were running backwards," Link commented, holding back a smirk. I turned to face Palkia and stared into its red eyes.

"Palkia, what are you doing?" I asked. "We mean you no harm, if that's what you're wondering." I hadn't expected an answer from the Pokémon, but what I heard next surprised me.

"_What brings you beings here?_" Palkia asked, apparently speaking to me by means of telepathy. I then heard another voice boom from behind me.

"_None of you belong here, yet you enter our territory_," Dialga stated. "_How dare you trespass this area and threaten us!_"I wasn't sure if I was more intimidated by Dialga's booming low voice or Palkia's screeching high-pitched voice.

"Wait a minute, let us explain!" I interrupted them. "We mean you no harm, I swear it!" Unfortunately I wasn't given a chance to make my case, for Dialga roared again and slowly swung its head around. I then noticed almost immediately that Dialga used its Roar of Time ability to drastically slow the flow of time. I then noticed that a light was forming within Dialga's mouth. To my apprehension it was charging up a powerful beam.

"Wait, Dialga, don't attack!" I cried out very slowly. I was trying to get out of the way of the next attack, but my movements became very sluggish and unbearably slow. As Dialga charged its laser, Meta Knight slowly flew up and away from the steel-dragon's line of sight. Link turned his attention to me and dashed towards me at a very slow pace (despite the fact that he was running as quickly as possible).

Dialga unleashed the full force of its laser at me, but Link successfully knocked me out of the way before the attack could connect. The situation felt very similar to a Matrix scene, seeing as we both dodged a deadly attack and fell to the ground in slow motion. As we brought ourselves to our feet, Dialga made a motion with its head, and time resumed its normal rate.

"Did that thing just slow down time?" Link inquired with a slight tone of doubt. I nodded in response. At that point Meta Knight landed next to us.

"Apparently these Pokémon refuse to heed our words," Meta Knight stated, very annoyed by the theatrics that both Pokémon had made. As much as I had to accept Meta Knight's truth, I also refused to give up on coming to terms with the deities.

"_Hmm, persistent beings, aren't you?_" Palkia sneered. I locked eye contact with Palkia and then did the same with Dialga.

"Dialga, Palkia, please listen to me!" I yelled. "We did not come here of our own will. An enemy of ours forced us here, and now we are stuck here, so long as you don't let us leave here in peace. We mean you no harm; haven't we proven that by not attacking either of you?" Both Pokémon were taken aback by my testimony.

"_The human is right, Palkia_,"Dialga confirmed, sounding just like a wise old man. "_None of these three beings have tried to attack us, and yet we go so far as to endanger them._"

"_How can you be so sure, Dialga?_" Palkia retored. "_Just because they haven't attacked us doesn't mean they won't try to do so eventually._"

"Uh…I would suggest you cease the arguing and look over there," Link interrupted, pointing a finger. Both Pokémon seemed appalled by the fact that a mere human would interrupt them, but nonetheless they listened to him. All of us turned our attention to the direction of Link's pointed finger. The sight that we took in was not a pretty one.

A wave of Shadow Bugs began to flood Spear Pillar, covering everything in sight with purple spores. Everyone looked on in disbelief as the Shadow Bugs began to take distinct shapes.

"_What is this blasphemy?_" Dialga shouted, not understanding the scene that was unfolding before our eyes.

"Oh shit, Primids!" I yelled, grabbing the hilt of my Beam Sword and releasing the energy blade. Link and Meta Knight copied my actions and brandished their swords as well. "Dialga, Palkia, I motion for a truce. We have to destroy these Primids! Okay?" Neither of them responded for a moment, until Palkia spoke up.

"_If it means protecting these sacred grounds, then I suppose we can help you fight_," it stated. Dialga roared at the Primids, as if agreeing with Palkia. Link, Meta Knight and I all stood our ground, ready to strike the Primids at any moment. The Primids, meanwhile, surrounded all of us, leaving us little room to attack.

"CHARGE!" I exclaimed, rushing into battle. With my Beam Sword in hand I dashed at the front of the enemy line, slashing at the unarmed Primids. In about three seconds I fell six or seven Primids. I thought of that as impressive, since this was the first battle in a while – not counting the one against Galleom.

Link and Meta Knight also rushed at the Primids, severing the heads of dozens of unarmed and Sword Primids. The Scope and Boom Primids kept their distance and fired projectiles at them, but I moved in close and put a few of them to death.

Meta Knight distracted the closest Primids and engaged in close combat, while Link moved off to the side and used projectiles on the most distanced Primids. None could evade his bombs, arrows, or the Gale Boomerang; especially since the boomerang acted to bring the Primids close enough for Meta Knight and me to strike them.

There was just one problem: the Primids wouldn't back down. Their numbers seemed to remain the same, despite the fact that we eradicated several of them. When the deity Pokémon saw this, they moved in to assist us.

Dialga was the first to attack. It activated Roar of Time to slow down time, affecting all of the Primids but not us. The Primids became vulnerable from being so slow, and Dialga used their sluggish movements to its advantage.

"_Everyone, move out of the way!_" it shouted. Link, Meta Knight and I obeyed it, moving closer to Palkia. Dialga then jumped out at a dozen Primids and destroyed them with its Draco Meteor attack. Afterwards time resumed normally.

"_I guess it's my turn!_"Palkia gleefully commented. The three of us all moved towards Dialga this time. Palkia activated Spacial Rend and flipped Spear Pillar upside-down, completely disorienting the Primids. Taking this opportunity, Palkia cut a dozen more Primids to shreds with its Dragon Claw attack. Afterwards Spear Pillar flipped right side-up again.

As a result of the previous attacks from the dragon Pokémon, only a few dozen Primids remained. Meta Knight and I continued to stab and slash at some Primids, while Link fired arrows and threw bombs at other Primids. The remaining dozen Primids gathered together for a last-ditch attempt to attack and destroy us.

That was their biggest mistake, for Dialga and Palkia put their powers together for a final attack. A single beam of light materialized above said Primids, preparing to vaporize them. The Hyper Beam struck, but unfortunately one of the Primids grabbed Meta Knight and dragged him into the force of the beam.

"META KNIGHT!" Link and I cried out, shielding our eyes from the beam's harsh light. When the Hyper Beam dissipated, the Primids were no more, but a trophy of Meta Knight lied there, steaming from the force of the last attack. Link, not hesitating for one second, walked over to Meta Knight and touched the base of his trophy, causing a light to radiate. When the light dimmed, Meta Knight stood there, shaking off the pain.

"Hey, are you all right?" Link asked him. Meta Knight simply nodded to him. All of us then turned to face the deity Pokémon.

"_Sorry about that_," Dialga spoke. "_We didn't expect your friend to get caught in our attack._"

"Hey, it's okay, it's not your fault," I replied. "Besides, you helped us out a lot. Thanks!"

"_We're glad we could help,_" Palkia responded."_You did help us protect our territory, after all. I guess you humans are better than we had judged you._"

"_I must ask you_," Dialga cut in as it was looking up. "_What is that dark sphere looming above us?_"

"That's Subspace," I answered, also looking up. "It sucks in everything in its presence and traps whatever it absorbs in another dimension."

"_That must have been what disturbed us and summoned us here_," Palkia added. "_Whoever is responsible for this 'Subspace' will pay for disturbing us!_"

"Yeah, it's a good idea not to get caught in that Subspace," Link noted. I still had my mind wrapped around the concept of Subspace…Subspace…space…

"That's it!" I cried out! The Pokémon, along with Link and Meta Knight, abruptly turned their attention towards me, startled by my random outburst of excitement. But how could I contain such excitement when I just had an epiphany?

"_Speak, young one! What is it?_" Dialga eagerly spoke, wanting an answer from me. I turned to face Palkia and grinned.

"Palkia, you have the power to control space, right?" It nodded. "Well, since Subspace is still space, could you possibly reverse the effects of it and reduce it to nothing?" Link and Meta Knight's expressions lit up as I mentioned this. Palkia pondered this theory before making up its mind.

"_I'm not sure_," it answered. "_I have never encountered something like this. However, I can certainly try to do that._"

"That's great! Go for it!" It nodded. All of us directed out attention towards Palkia as it prepared to fulfill my request. We watched it intently and silently as we held our breath and stood absolutely still, avoiding any possible chance of breaking its concentration.

First Palkia bowed its head down and then reared it upwards towards the sky as it unleashed a screeching roar, waving both of its arms in the process. At that moment it activated Spacial Rend.

The Subspace began to crackle and spark with otherworldly energy, as if it was reacting to Palkia's power. Just as we hoped it began to pulsate and shrink. The dark sphere decreased in size little by little. But just as it was about to disappear, something went wrong. The Subspace sphere sparked more violently and began to grow to its original size, as if it was fighting back against Palkia's almighty strength. In a great flash of light the Subspace sphere returned to its original size, and Palkia stood there, slightly slumped over and looking exhausted from its attempt to control the Subspace.

"Damn, that didn't work," Link commented, annoyed by the failure. "Oh well, at least Palkia tried."

"Palkia, are you all right?" Meta Knight asked.

"_Palkia used a great deal of energy to activate its Spacial Rend ability on that dark sphere you call Subspace_," Dialga answered. "_Normally that doesn't happen, but since this was a new experience for Palkia, its energy was nearly depleted. It's obvious to say that Spacial Rend doesn't work on Subspace._"

"_I felt a force fight back against me_," Palkia spoke as it breathed heavily. "_There was some entity within the Subspace that refused to bend to my will. I got a glimpse of a blue human of sorts, and it was using its own energy to weaken me and reverse the effects of Spacial Rend._" Although Palkia sounded exhausted from its last attack, it also sounded like it wanted vengeance against whoever this 'blue human' was.

"That's terrible, Palkia," I said. "Nobody should mess with you or Dialga. I know I wouldn't."

"_That's okay, young one_," Palkia retorted. "_I am sorry that I couldn't do more for you three._"

"Oh, that's okay, at least you tried. Thanks for the effort, anyway. And thanks for all your help."

"_We were happy to help_," Dialga replied. "_We're also grateful for all your help in defending Spear Pillar._"

"You're very welcome, you two!" Link commented with a grin and a thumbs-up.

"Well, there is nothing more for us to do up here," Meta Knight cut in calmly. "We should return to the Halberd. The others are waiting for us." Link and I nodded to him and then turned to the Pokémon.

"_Palkia, we should leave_," Dialga stated. "_You must rest, and we cannot afford to attract any more unwanted attention._" Dialga then turned its attention to us. "_We bid you three farewell and good luck in your endeavors._"

"It was nice to meet you two," I replied with a smile. The portals from before reappeared, and the two deity Pokémon disappeared within them, leaving the three of us alone on the Spear Pillar.

"We should head back now. Do either of you need a lift?" Meta Knight offered. Link and I nodded, and Meta Knight grabbed us. As we held onto him, his cape turned into a pair of wings, and he took off. The three of us flew into the night and back to the Halberd.


	21. Chapter 21: Camps and Catfights

Author's Notes: Oh goodie, another chapter posted within a short period of time. So, you guys ought to like this chapter. It's part filler, part action scene. You won't be sorry for reading this.

By the way, thanks for the recent reviews. I really do enjoy them, and more reviews would be nice. Pretty please? I'll give you all cookies!

Samus: My turn again! Captain Black Knight once again does not own SSBB. It belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

Chapter 21: Camps and Catfights

Meta Knight flew back to the site of the Halberd with Link and me in tow. He landed and set us down next to the makeshift camp that the others created a few hours ago. We saw Pit and Snake gathering the spare firewood into a neat pile as Will tended the fire. Kayla suspended a kettle over the flames in order to cook dinner. Candace and Samus brought out blankets and pillows for everyone, while Jim and Marth sat there, not having much of a job to do. Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch were nowhere to be seen, perhaps because they were still doing their job inside the Halberd.

"I shall gather Sir Kirby and Sir Game and Watch from the ship, and I will return soon," Meta Knight stated. "You two can go join the others around the fire." We nodded our thanks and made our way towards the group. As we approached, the others turned their heads towards us.

"You're alive!" Will confirmed with true concern, despite the fact that he sounded sarcastic. "You guys have been gone for a while. Where have you been?"

"Oh, we were out in the mountains, just dealing with some persistent scum," I commented in a carefree tone. Link nodded to add to my point. I then noticed that the night was still young, and hence the reason why everyone was still awake and awaiting dinner.

"Well, you're just in time for my incredible stew," Kayla cut in. "Did you guys get water?" Remembering our original task, Link and I brought out the bottles of water we collected and handed them to Kayla. "Dinner is served, guys!" Everyone gathered around the campfire, eager to get a taste of Kayla's amazing cooking skills. Even Meta Knight returned with Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch. Part of the group was absent when Kayla, Candace and I cooked last night, so they were in for a treat. Kayla divided the stew and distributed it to each person – or puffball – evenly.

"Wow, this is delicious!" Samus praised after she tasted the stew. "How did you learn to make such good stuff?" Kayla just laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

"If you think that's good, you should have tasted what the other girls made last night!" Pit commented cheerfully. The others ate their meals with mixed conversations and occasional laughter. Mr. Game and Watch didn't eat, since he never does, anyway. Then how come he throws bacon and stuff like that from a frying pan? Nonetheless, Kirby ate his portion of the stew along with his own share.

The night went on as everyone finished dinner and prepared to get some rest. Will continued to tend to the fire as Jim added more planks of wood to the flames. The group needed warmth in the open clearing, after all.

"If everyone would please direct their attention to my next statement," Meta Knight started as everyone turned their heads to look at him. "I need to note this: Two people should remain awake to keep guard over the camp. Every hour two others can take over, so on and so forth. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded and Meta Knight returned the gesture.

"Link and I will take the first watch tonight, Meta Knight," I said as the others chose their sleeping spots. "We'll be sure to wake you guys if any trouble occurs."

"Thank you," he replied. "As for the rest of you, I bid you good night." With that he crawled under his blanket and went to sleep. As the others wished each other a good night, they removed their gear and also covered themselves with their blankets and drifted off to a hopefully peaceful slumber.

Meanwhile, Link stood a few feet away, staring into space, apparently in deep thought about something. I sat by the fire, appreciating its warmth, as I looked around at the scene. Something about watching the others sleep made me feel a few different emotions – contentment, delight, curiosity, etc. – all at once.

Meta Knight slept in his own little spot by himself. Mr. Game and Watch lied flat against Kirby as a snooze bubble inflated and deflated from his nose, something that made me snicker. Snake also slept in his own personal spot, apparently clutching his 9mm gun even as he slept. I thought that was rather strange and uncomfortable, but nonetheless he did so, perhaps out of paranoia or self-comfort. Samus slept between Will and Jim for some reason, one that I will probably never understand. Pit and Candace lied next to each other, while one of his wings blanketed Candace's body. I thought that was cute. Marth and Kayla slept pretty close together, her head on his shoulder. It was as if they were cuddling each other.

I then looked back at the fire, hugging my legs and sighing. Staring into the dancing flames, I recalled the events that occurred today – the conversations, Wolf's departure, Samus' arrival, the torn sky, the Halberd landing, Candace and Pit getting into trouble, the battle with Galleom, the encounter with Dialga and Palkia, fighting off the Primids – all of it settled into a giant jumble of unanswered questions and almost unexplainable emotions that meshed in my brain.

I looked into the sky, noticing the unnatural tear in the sky that had dark colors and bright light swirling within the tear. It still confused the hell out of me, yet it gave me a mixed sense of hope and dread. As I contemplated its presence, something else caught my eye. Link lingered over to the side of the ship and sat down. As I looked over at him, he noticed me and motioned to me to join him.

I got up with an interested look on my face, and I walked over to him and took a seat next to him on his left side. I wasn't sure if he just wanted me to accompany him or if he actually had something to say, but nonetheless I eagerly awaited some words to come out of his mouth. He looked up at the night sky, and I watched him with a bit of curiosity. _Shouldn't we be on guard duty?_ I asked myself. Whatever, I didn't really care at the moment, so I also looked up into the sky.

"Wow, the full moon is beautiful," I mused, noticing the moonlight casting its glow upon us. "The stars are beautiful, too."

"Indeed they are," Link agreed. "Just like you." I blinked and just stared at him, slightly taken aback by his comment. I wasn't used to such compliments from people of the opposite gender, so a comment like that had surprised me. Nonetheless, I appreciated it, giving Link a smile that he adored. I then looked back at the group of sleeping souls, just noticing something.

"I wonder how much my friends miss our home world," I muttered. Link looked at me, eager to hear my reason. I looked him in the eye and continued. "Believe it or not, most of my friends here have significant others waiting for them back home. I would assume that they would miss each other a lot, but it seems like some of my friends here have befriended the people in this world – perhaps even developed some sort of romance between them. Look at Kayla and Candace, for example, how they act and feel around Marth and Pit. It's like they have almost forgotten their boyfriends. I feel bad for all four men. Also, I can't tell if they want to go home or not."

Link remained silent for a long moment, not sure of how to respond to this. Later he decided to speak up.

"What about you? Do you have a significant other back home?" I shook my head.

"No, I don't," I answered. "In fact, I've been romantically alone all my life. I have always felt like I was doomed to be alone for all eternity. But then fate intervened and brought me to you. That's why I grew to love you and be happy around you. It's one reason why I thought of what I said a moment ago. I'm stuck with a dilemma of whether I should go home or stay here."

Another awkward silence followed my statement as Link stared at me again. He then slowly rested his arms at his sides as he took my right hand in his gloved left hand.

"I've wondered that as well," he spoke. "I've always thought about whether you would return home or not and how I would feel if you suddenly left. People have wondered why I've never had a love interest in women like Zelda or even Samus, and the reason is that I knew that someone like you would eventually come along. Now that you entered my life, I need you more than anything, and now more than ever. I don't want you to leave, but I feel that I can't stop you from returning to your real world if you do so." He sighed. "I guess neither of us knows what to do."

"Well, let's not worry about that for the time being," I suggested. "Right now we have each other, and that's what counts." I leaned towards Link and planted a soft kiss on his lips that made him blush and smile. "Besides, we have worlds to save, right?" He then chuckled at my last comment and nodded.

I was growing tired from the conversation and from being awake for so long. It occurred to me that only fifteen minutes passed by as we chatted, and yet the time seemed to fly quickly. Oh well, I wasn't complaining. I repositioned myself into a lying position, resting my head on Link's lap. I looked up at him with a small smile as he brushed one hand through my blonde hair, still holding my hand with his other hand. I was enjoying his company, no doubt.

"Shouldn't you be keeping watch?" Link asked with a chuckle. I just gave him a snide yet joking look.

"I know," I replied sarcastically. "You should be on guard, too, you know." I chuckled. "Besides, nothing's happened yet, has it?" Suddenly, as if on cue, a rustling sound echoed from the trees. I bolted upright and looked around frantically, and Link's hand moved from my hand and to the hilt of his blade. _Damn, we're still on guard duty, aren't we?_ I asked myself. _I was so enjoying the moment._

"What was that?" I asked no one in particular. "Did you hear that?" Despite the fact that I was relaxed a moment ago, my body suddenly tensed from the sound. I quickly got to my feet and reached for my Beam Sword, activating it.

"The source of the sound is over there," Link answered, pointing to a particular section of trees. I peered in the direction of Link's gesture and crept carefully towards the forest edge. The rustling sound occurred again, and I stopped in my tracks.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's friendly," I muttered, tightly clutching the hilt of my energy blade. An awkward silence fell over the clearing, and I tensed up even more. Suddenly out of nowhere a black object flew at top speed towards me. I couldn't dodge it in time, so it hit me square in the face.

"Ow, me and my big mouth!" I hissed through my clenched teeth, clutching my nose.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Link asked me as he approached me.

"Well, my nose is in great pain, and it might be bleeding or broken, but otherwise I'm peachy!" I looked down and glanced at the object that hit me a second ago. Said object confused me greatly.

_A frying pan?_ I asked myself. _But who would carry around something like that?_ My question was quickly answered as a figure stepped out of the shadows of the trees and slowly approached us. The second I got a better look at the figure, I knew who it was, but I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Peach?!" I exclaimed. Indeed Princess Peach appeared and threw her frying pan at my face. She bent down to pick up her frying pan and then backed off ever so slightly. Something was rather off about her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "What is Peach doing here, and why did she deck me in the face with a cooking tool?" As I asked that, someone lightly tapped my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Link's face, but instead I met the half-fatigued gaze of Solid Snake.

"That's not really Peach," he stated, glaring at her. "Notice the dark aura and the glowing eyes?" I nodded, just noticing that now. "She's merely a clone of the real Princess Peach. Make sense?" He then cocked his 9mm and aimed it at the Peach clone. It occurred to me that somehow Snake was the only one who noticed all the commotion and woke up from it, while the others slept through the noise.

"So, shall we clobber the fake princess?" Link asked boldly. Snake and I nodded as all of us assumed battle stances. False Peach also readied for battle opposite us.

The latter immediately charged at us with open hands, ready to strike. We all sidestepped, but the fake princess seemed too smart for that. She sidestepped towards me and delivered a clean bitch slap to my left cheek. I simply cursed loudly and thrust my knee into her stomach. She keeled over but then regained her composure – only to get a foot to the face from Snake. False Peach shook off the pain and backed off, regrouping herself. She then reached down into the ground and randomly plucked several large turnips from the dirt. I'm not sure how they got there or why they had faces on them, but I wasn't going to ask questions at the moment. False Peach threw the turnips at each of us, hoping to score a hit. Link blocked the joyful-looking turnip with his shield, while I ducked from the apathetic-looking turnip.

Snake wasn't so lucky, though. He got hit square in the face by the turnip with the zombified stitch-face on it. I knew that was trouble, for it caused so much damage to Snake that he was instantly knocked back. He was sent flying backwards and skidded across the ground to a stop. He muttered something inaudible and then blacked out.

"Well, that's one soldier down," Link muttered disappointedly. He then turned his attention back towards the fake princess, hoping to avenge the fallen mercenary. Whipping out the Gale Boomerang, Link threw it at Peach, causing her to spin around uncontrollably. He then followed up with several sword slashes, and I joined in, slicing her up with my energy blade. False Peach reacted by kicking Link in the chin, sending him upward and then back down, hitting the ground. I retaliated by dropkicking her, causing her to fall on her ass.

"Take that, you dumb broad!" I sneered. She quickly got up and slammed into me with her ass of steel, knocking me over. She looked down at me and waved a finger at me. I could tell she was taunting me, and I just had enough. I took a second to growl at her, but then I got up and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground. The two of us started a catfight.

We kicked and clawed and wrestled each other for a good five to ten minutes. Link could only look on in great confusion and awkwardness. Apparently he also tried to hold back a fit of laughter, despite the occasional snicker that escaped his mouth.

False Peach and I backed off each other, deciding to cease with the games and to continue truly battling each other. Again I brandished the Beam Sword, and I dashed at False Peach, raising the blade high above my head, ready to bring it down upon her. The fake princess, however, parried my blade with…a parasol? Regardless we engaged in a heated 'sword fight', scoring occasional strikes on each other. Eventually I managed to slice the parasol to bits. Link then led me off to the side and whispered something in my ear.

"Let's try a team attack to finish her off," he whispered. I nodded in agreement. We then surrounded False Peach on both sides. She assumed a defensive position, but it was no good, for I grabbed her from behind, kicked her a bit, and then threw her up into the air with as much strength as I could muster. Link then took over as he leaped up into the air towards False Peach, letting loose a long combination of sword slashes on her. She couldn't do anything about it since she was immobile. Link then slashed her one final time and slammed her into the ground. As a result, the fake princess reverted back into her trophy form. Link and I both looked down at it, satisfied with our victory. Link poked the trophy with his foot, and it dissolved into Shadows Bugs and disappeared.

"Well, that was fun," I commented with a heavy sigh. We took a minute to catch our breaths, but then a sudden voice broke the silence.

"You! Hold it right there!"


	22. Chapter 22: Excuses, Lies, and

Author's Notes: Hooray, another chapter! Wow, this must be the third chapter that I've submitted within a short period of time. For those of you that have noticed this rapid-fire posting process, you ought to be pleased. I'm able to submit more chapters more frequently since I have less college work to do for the summer (yes, I have a summer course; shut up XD), not to mention less hours at my job.

So, in this exciting new chapter, you get to see yet another battle scene, and it's really heated. Fantastic, isn't it? I think the chapter is a bit longer as well, so you won't be disappointed.

By the way, I saw that this story got over 3000 hits! Thank you guys so much for reading my story, and if you reviewed this story, you get an even bigger thanks!

Peach: I'm not really in the story yet, am I? I'm kinda off to the side, and--oh, fine! Captain Black Knight owns only this story and the OCs. I'm leaving now...

* * *

Chapter 22: Excuses, Lies, and Violent Fights

Link and I both froze where we stood, startled by the new voice that pierced the air without warning. We turned our heads towards the direction of the voice, trying to determine its source. A few seconds later the source stepped – no; it dashed out of the forest and directly towards Link, with its fist raised and ready to strike. I moved in between Link and this figure, preventing any harm to him. Luck wasn't on my side, though, as the figure kept charging at us with its fist still raised. The figure made a right slice with its fist into the side of my head, knocking me out of way and to the ground. Link gasped loudly, and at the same time he blocked a second attempt at a punch from the figure.

"Mario, what are you doing?!" I heard Link shout. From the ground I looked up at the man who was opposing Link, getting a better look at him. I could tell from the red cap, the blue eyes, and the unmistakable moustache that the man was indeed the one and only Mario.

"I saw you kill Peach!" Mario accused loudly, pressing his clenched fists against Link's weapons. "Both of you killed her right before my eyes! But now I'm going to make both of you pay for that!"

"Oh, no you won't!" Link yelled, slowly pushing Mario back. "How dare you attack Brooke! No one messes with her if I can help it! But I guess now you'll have to answer to me!" Both men backed off each other, glowering at each other and tensing their bodies in anticipation, like cougars waiting for the other to make the first move.

"I can't help it if she gets in the way of me hitting you! Besides, she helped you kill Peach, and that is reason enough for me to teach her a lesson!"

"I don't want to hear your excuses! I said that no one messes with Brooke, and nothing you say will change that! On top of that we didn't kill Peach!"

"I don't want to hear your lies! Peach is now dead, and nothing will stop me from avenging her! Let's battle!" Just as Mario finished the argument, a new figure appeared at Mario's side. The figure looked like a green dinosaur standing on its hind legs. I recognized it as Yoshi, Mario's faithful friend and ally. It glared at Link and then at me.

"I don't think two against Link is quite fair," I commented snidely as I slowly got up, holding my head. "How about a team battle? That ought to fare well." I brandished the Beam Sword once again, and the four of us assumed our battle stances, Mario facing Link and Yoshi facing me.

But just as we were about to start the fight, we all heard groaning and mumbling from behind us. Snake woke up and walked towards us.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked innocently.

"I suggest backing up, Snake," Link answered. "We're about to engage in a two-on-two fight, and it could get messy." Snake immediately backed off, knowing not to interfere with a destined battle and deciding not to get himself brutally wounded when it wasn't necessary. Instead, he decided to be a spectator/referee and watch us, making sure that the fight wouldn't disturb or harm the others.

"CHARGE!" all four of us shouted as we dashed towards each other. Link made the first strike, but Mario sidestepped his blade in time. Yoshi retaliated by ramming into Link, but I stopped him from doing so by tackling him to the ground. Mario wound up his fist, ready to clock me in the head again, but Link blocked the fist with the Hylian Shield. So with the exception of one hit, this match didn't seem to start off too well.

"Should we try to focus on one fighter each?" I whispered to Link, hoping that I made a good suggestion.

"Sounds like a good plan," he whispered back. "You handle Yoshi…Mario's mine." He seemed to say that last part through gritted teeth, as if he had sworn vengeance against the red plumber.

"Got it," I muttered with a nod. I then backed away from Link and attempted to grab Yoshi's attention. "Hey Yoshi, come and get me!" Immediately the green dinosaur focused on me and lunged at me. Yoshi stuck his tongue out at me, but I grabbed it and hurled Yoshi over my shoulder and to the ground. As Yoshi recovered, he swung his tail and swept me off my feet, causing me to land on my ass. Yoshi jumped and attempted to land on me, but I rolled away before he could he could attack me with the full force of his weight. I then stood up and slashed at him, opening up a shallow cut on his large nose. He wailed and ran around in circles, clutching his now bleeding nose.

That gave me the opportunity to land a major hit on him. I grabbed Yoshi, kicked him a few times, threw him to the ground, and stabbed him in the stomach. Supposedly Yoshi couldn't handle the damage, and so he became a trophy in a flash of light. _Well, that was too easy_, I thought proudly as I wiped my hands of dirt and sweat.

Meanwhile, the two men were violently destroying each other. I saw red against green, fists against weapons, and blue eyes staring each other down. I could tell that both of them had developed a flaming vendetta against each other on behalf of the women they swore to protect. It was odd to me. I had always assumed that Mario and Link were good friends, or in the worst-case scenario they were rivals, but never had I thought that could become enemies so quickly. But then again Mario was blinded from the truth, and Link was trying to knock some sense into him as well as trying to help me out. I just wished that this fight would end soon and that they would both make up.

It was clearly evident that Mario was fiercely on the offensive, while Link fought mostly on the defensive. Link wanted to shake him up a bit, but he didn't want to seriously harm the man. The converse was sadly not true. Mario was enraged – and out for Link's blood.

Mario threw fireball after fireball at Link, the latter of whom blocking the flames with his shield. Link retaliated by throwing bombs at Mario, who dodged or jumped away from the explosions. Link then threw the Gale Boomerang at Mario, but the plumber was too smart for that. He whipped out his cape and deflected the boomerang back at Link, who merely caught it as it returned to him. Link then knew that he had to resort to close combat, so he dashed towards Mario and slashed as he went. Mario kept dodging the blade, but occasionally Link would land a hit and open a few cuts on the red man. Mario also attacked up close as he threw a few fireballs at Link. Again he blocked the fireballs and occasionally ducked from them as well. A few flames managed to graze him, burning his tunic as well as his Hylian skin. Mario delivered an uppercut to Link's chin, sending him up and backwards, but not before Link kicked Mario in the chin, sending him into the air as well.

Both men fell to the ground, but they slowly struggled to their feet. They were so exhausted from battle that they couldn't even stand straight, as both of their knees were bent, trying to keep the two men standing. Link rested on his sword for support, while Mario was slumped over, resting his hands on his knees. Simultaneously they were breathing heavily.

"Is that…the best you've got?" Mario exhaled, now glaring at the swordsman.

"I was about to…ask you the same question," Link answered weakly, glaring back at the plumber. They both struggled to stay conscious, but it was clear that neither of them would give up. A moment later Link raised his weapons, while Mario raised his fists. They were both about to attack each other again, until—

"STOP!" I shouted, rushing towards them. Once again I stood in between them both, preventing them from making a move. They both gave me looks of either confusion or annoyance.

"Brooke, why did you stop us?" Link inquired.

"Yeah, we were just about to finish," Mario added. "Why did you interfere?"

"Look, I don't want to see you guys fighting each other anymore," I stated sternly. "You guys have pushed yourselves way too far beyond your limits, and if you continue to fight, you'll destroy each other – all for some stupid argument." Both men stood silently and stared at me in shock, but then Mario seemed to have regained his senses.

"No, I can't quit now," Mario said. "I haven't avenged Peach yet, and Link needs to pay for his crime."

"You're still in denial, huh? Fine then, we can continue the battle, but Link's had enough. Fight me instead."

"But Brooke, what about—" Link started.

"I already defeated Yoshi a while ago," I interrupted him. "You're way too exhausted to continue. Let me finish him off. That ought to knock some sense into him." Link stared at me but then nodded and backed off. Mario couldn't believe that Link was quitting, but then again I told him to do that, and Mario could still 'avenge Peach' if he fought me, so he couldn't quite complain.

"Fine, I'll make you pay for killing Peach," Mario spat. "Bring it on!" He charged at me and tried to kick my legs out from under me, but I jumped over his legs and slashed at him, leaving a rather large laceration on his chest. Despite his new injury he got up and punched me in the stomach, making me double over in pain. I wasn't about to give in, though, so I grabbed Mario by the collar.

"Mario, this ends now," I briefly murmured. I then flipped him over my back and then stabbed him in the chest as he hit the ground. Within seconds he became a trophy. I stood over the trophy, breathing heavily but still managing to grin. The feeling of victory was definitely compensating for the physical pain that throbbed throughout my body. A hand delicately touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Link, also breathing heavily.

"Great job," he muttered, giving me a smirk. I simply beamed at him, appreciating the praise for my hard work. That is, until—

"Ouch," I hissed as I dropped to my knees, doubling over in pain. Link knelt at my side, making sure that I didn't fall on my face.

"Dear God, are you okay?" he asked me, ignoring all concern for himself and instead focusing his attention on me. He still suffered from cuts, burns, and other wounds, but he couldn't have cared less at the moment.

"I-I'm…perfectly fine," I answered weakly, still trying to catch my breath. "Really I am." I knew that was a lie, though. I felt weaker every second, and the pain and fatigue that added up throughout every battle from Galleom to that point suddenly felt like a heavy weight that was crushing me. Not to mention that I also suffered a fair amount of wounds as well.

"What happened?" I heard Snake ask as he rushed over to us.

"She's in bad shape," Link answered. "All of this fighting has put a burden on her stamina, and the pain has become too much for her. She needs help now." As Link said that, Snake noticed a large gash that ran across my left shoulder and ended at my collarbone. When he touched it, I winced and clenched my teeth together.

"That's just…a flesh wound," I muttered slyly with a smirk. "Really, I'm just fine."

"Hey, quit being so modest," Snake retorted. "Look, we have a first-aid kit, so we'll fix you up real good, got it?" I gave up and just nodded. Link and Snake then helped me stand up and assisted me as I walked back to the campfire. As we went back, someone else approached us. Apparently Samus had heard the commotion and woke up as a result, wondering what was causing it. Will also woke up and just looked at us from where he was sitting.

""What the hell happened to you?" Will interrogated rather loudly as he noticed my beat-up state of being.

"Snake, what happened?" Samus asked quietly, ignoring Will's rude question. He noticed the fact that he was being shunned, and so Will just scoffed and went back to sleep.

"Turns out that these two took a major beating," he stated. "She's suffered the worst of it, though. Look, she can barely stand." Samus took a good look at me, and then she searched through her Power Suit – which was sitting in its own spot near Samus' blanket – and pulled out a small pack. I guessed that whatever it was, it was going to do me some good.

"Good, I still have my first-aid kit," she commented. "Snake, do you have yours?" He simply nodded as he held it in his hand. "Okay, I'll take care of Brooke, while you tend to Link's wounds. Sound good?" Again he nodded, but then he spoke up again.

"What about those two?" he asked, indicating the Mario and Yoshi trophies that lied off to the side.

"Don't…revive them," I said weakly. "Not just yet. We'll deal with them in the morning." Snake agreed and immediately got to work on treating Link. The latter was slightly protesting – being the proud warrior that he is –, but Snake insisted that he let the mercenary fix him up, and so Link agreed.

Meanwhile, Samus focused on treating my condition. She had me lie flat with a cold compress on my forehead while she began to close up the shoulder wound and best as she could. I winced a bit as she touched the wound, but other than that I was rather content.

"I heard from Link that you two got into quite a few tough fights tonight, huh?" Samus commented as she bandaged my shoulder with gauze.

"Yeah, we did," I said after I regained some of my energy. "We fought Galleom, an army of Primids, a fake Peach, Mario and Yoshi, all in one night! We had a bit of help from Meta Knight and Snake, of course, but nonetheless it still took a lot out of me. So how is Link doing?"

"Snake is almost done patching him up; he'll be fine." I let out a sigh of relief. "You must be worried about him." I nodded. "I can tell that you two really care about each other." I just blinked and stared at her, and she explained how she overheard my conversation with him before we engaged in battle with False Peach. Of course, that made me turn pink a bit. She giggled and continued to treat my other wounds.

After twenty minutes she finally finished, and Snake and Link joined us. I couldn't even begin to count the number of bandages Link had on himself. Snake then handed me a small blue and red pill. I just looked at it before he spoke up.

"Meta Knight said to take that," Snake stated, indicating that Meta Knight was awake and looking at the fallen trophies. "He says he got it from an incredibly skilled doctor, so I guess it must be good, potent stuff." I swallowed it and immediately began to feel its effects.

"That Megavitamin should repair any internal damage within minutes," Meta Knight added as he joined us. He was right; after five minutes, the Megavitamin did its job, and I no longer felt any pain inside my body. I also noticed that, to my relief, my nose fixed itself.

"Wow, you're right," I said, impressed with the results of the Megavitamin's work. "I feel better already."

"Well, that's good," Samus cut in. "All you need now is rest, and you should be perfectly fine in the morning." I beamed and gave Samus a small hug, thanking her for her help. The bounty hunter smiled and nodded, and Meta Knight then spoke up again.

"Now that the confrontation has past, we should all rest until morning. We shall deal with Mario and Yoshi then, but for now we must keep them as trophies in order to avoid further conflict. Agreed?" Everyone who was awake nodded. Samus and Snake volunteered to take watch this time to let Link, Meta Knight and me rest.

Meta Knight tended the fire before going back to bed. The blue knight returned to his spot and went back to sleep. Link and I took over Snake's spot, using his blankets and pillows as well as those of Samus.

"Finally, we can get some sleep," the bandaged Link commented. "Too many battles in one night for my taste, if you ask me." I couldn't help but giggle at Link's comment. I was going to say something, but I became distracted by the bandages on his bare torso. After all, he had to remove most of his clothes so that Snake could properly patch him up. Besides, he didn't really want to sleep in burnt clothes. As for me my shirts were torn and bloodstained, so I preferred not to sleep wearing those, either. My camisole would suffice for the night.

"I don't know about you, but the fact that Snake and Samus are on guard puts me at ease," I said. "I'll be sure to sleep peacefully tonight." Link silently agreed as he lied on his back and covered himself with his blanket. I also gathered my blanket over myself, but then I sidled up to Link, wrapping one arm around his non-bandaged arm and resting my head on his shoulder. As we both muttered our 'good nights', fatigue took over, and we fell asleep in an instant.


	23. Chapter 23: A Complete Misunderstanding

Author's Notes: Oh my God, I didn't even realize until now that this fic received over 3000 hits! Thank you guys so much!

Again, I apologize for the slow rate of posting new chapters. I've been getting more hours at work, and my STATS class is being a bitch as usual. However, I felt like taking the time to post a new chapter for all of you to enjoy.

So, the chapter is a bit shorter than other previous chapters, but I think it gets to the point. This is probably the last chapter filler before the story climaxes. Fow now, just enjoy this one. I promise that the next chapter will be better.

Mario: Captain Black Knight only owns this story. No part of SSBB belongs to her. Ow...that last battle hurt.

* * *

Chapter 23: A Complete Misunderstanding

Dawn broke over the horizon, announcing the start of a new day. As the sunlight filled the clearing, it shone on my eyelids, causing me to stir. I slowly opened my eyes to allow the light into my pupils. It was a bittersweet welcome for my eyes, for I enjoyed the light, and yet I hated the pain and the blindness that it inflicted on my retinas.

When I became fully conscious and aware of my surroundings, the daylight filled most of the clearing. I guessed that it was mid-morning. I noticed that along with the fact that I was completely cuddled up next to Link. He didn't seem to mind, apparently.

"I see that you are awake. Good morning," Meta Knight greeted. He was the first one to awaken, and he was the only other one besides me to be awake.

"Good morning to you, too, Meta Knight," I replied, stretching as I spoke. The smell of smoke tickled my nose, and I looked over to see that the campfire died. What remained were the ashes and a few embers. "So, what's the plan today?"

"Would you like to wake the others?"

"Nah, I don't want to disturb them just yet, although I could use some help from you and perhaps Snake and Samus in dealing with those two." I pointed to the Mario and Yoshi trophies lying next to the Halberd. There was no need to wake them, however, as Snake was just now waking up and stretching out his back. Samus also woke up, yawning and rubbing her sleep-filled eyes.

"Hey, I heard you mention Samus and me as well as those trophies," Snake cut in. "Would you like us to help?" I nodded with a grin, and we immediately got to work. I whispered to Snake and Samus to restrain Mario and Yoshi the second I revive them. I first touched the base of Yoshi's trophy, and he reappeared in a flash, perfectly fine. Samus grabbed Yoshi and put him in a chokehold. I then revived Mario, seeing the red plumber standing there in a flash. Snake grabbed him from behind and locked Mario's arms behind his back.

Both fighters struggled to escape the grips of their captors, but they failed miserably. Only after three minutes did they calm down and shut up, waiting to hear me out. Meta Knight silently looked on at the scene unfolding before his eyes, slightly amused by it.

"Don't take this badly," I started. "We're just taking precautions. Until we can all make up, we're restraining you so that you don't cause any further harm to us." Both of them nodded, and so I began my testimony. "Mario, we all assure you that Peach is perfectly fine. What we fought yesterday was a clone of her, a False Peach created from Shadow Bugs. The real Peach is fighting off Subspace enemies along with Zelda, Captain Falcon and a few of my friends." Yoshi began to take my words to heart, perhaps believing what I said and giving me the benefit of the doubt. Mario, on the other hand, remained incredibly skeptical about the whole situation. As far as he was aware, Peach was dead, and he would never see her again. That, however, was not going to discourage me from making him see the truth.

"You still don't believe me, huh Mario?" I said to him, intimating a tone of disappointment. "Fine, I will prove it to you." Mario and Yoshi had no clue what I was trying to do, but they still watched me intently as I brushed my hand against the tattoo on the neck. The second I did that, the visions began again.

Immediately I saw Renee and her group, making their way through the Subspace Bomb Factory. A few new additions to the group – Pikachu and Captain Olimar with his Pikmin – tagged along with the girls and Captain Falcon. I mainly noticed that Peach was faring well, beating the tar out of some Primids with her golf club, Zelda with her magic. Renee and Kitty both winced at the acute pain from their own tattoos, and that's when I decided to speak up.

"Renee? Kitty? Can you two hear me?" I called out to them. They both stopped and looked around frantically, evidently confused by the voice they just heard. I called out to them again so that they would hear me clearly. Kitty clutched the tattoo on the back of her right hand and spoke up.

"Brooke! Is that you?" she responded. Renee followed Kitty's example and placed a hand on the tattoo located on her lower back, and she also responded to my voice.

"Brooke, how the hell are you able to talk to us?" she asked, rather baffled.

"That's a long story, which I'll explain later," I answered bluntly. "Right now I need to know if Peach is okay." Kitty looked like she was about to ask about my apparent ability to see Peach with the group, but she refrained from doing so as common sense came back to her.

"Yeah, Peach is just fine!" Renee replied cheerfully. "In fact she's hauling ass right about now." I heaved a sigh of relief at the last comment.

"That's good. Okay, you guys can keep doing what you're doing, and then we'll all meet up on the Battleship Halberd. Got that?"

"Yep, we'll let Captain Falcon know the plan," Kitty added.

"Good! Okay, I have to deal with Mario and Yoshi now, so we'll talk later." With a goodbye I severed the telepathic connection and resumed normal vision. Mario and Yoshi stared at me just as confused as ever. Yoshi, however, looked much less skeptical than Mario.

"Yep, Peach is perfectly fine," I confirmed. "She's on the Isle of the Ancients with a few friends, and she's destroying the Subspace enemies like paper. Zelda, Captain Falcon, and a few others are with her, and they make a great team." Neither of them said anything for a moment, until Yoshi decided to speak up. He blabbed some indistinct words to Mario, the latter of whom then turned to face me.

"Yoshi says that you're telling the truth and that we should believe you," Mario translated for the green dinosaur. "He also says that we should apologize for yesterday's mishap." Mario and I simply stared at each other without saying another word.

"Well, are you two going to apologize?" Samus asked for me, still keeping her grip on Yoshi, despite the fact that he wasn't struggling in the slightest. He blabbed a few more words to Mario, who translated to us.

"He says that it wouldn't be right to say anything unless both you _and_ Link directly faced us," he spoke for Yoshi.

"Well then, I'll go wake him up," I replied.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Snake cut in before I could turn around. He looked past me, and I noticed that Link walked up to me with a slight grimace that only I seemed to detect. Mario slightly tensed at the sight of the Hylian, but the others seemed to shrug off the body language.

"You were saying about an apology?" Link inquired, confident that he won a mental battle against the plumber. Mario tensed even more, but he relaxed when Yoshi spoke up again. Yoshi blabbed on for a whole minute, facing Link and myself instead of Mario.

"He says that he apologizes to both of you for what he did last night," Mario interpreted the apology. "He also says that what he did last night was wrong and that he will never do it again – unless we're fighting the true enemy."

"I see," I murmured. "Yoshi, do you promise that?" I extended a hand to Yoshi, who nodded and took it in a handshake with the only free hand that he could use. With a smirk I motioned to Samus to release the green dinosaur, allowing him to fully catch his breath.

"Sir Mario, I believe it is your turn to make an apology," Meta Knight stated, finally breaking his silence. Mario looked around at me, then Link, then Yoshi, then Meta Knight, and finally at the ground.

"I…" he started, unsure of what to say. "I apologize for last night. I'm sorry for attacking you without warning, and I'm also sorry for starting that fight. I shouldn't have caused you two trouble." Mario gathered his thoughts and continued. "Oh, I'm also sorry for accusing you of murder and dishonesty. I should have trusted your words." I took in Mario's confession and took one step towards him.

"Mario, do you promise to never attack us or accuse us again?" I interrogated him.

"Yes, I promise," Mario answered, now looking directly into my eyes. He looked incredibly sincere as he said this, so I couldn't help but take his word for it.

"Okay, Snake, you can let him go now," I calmly told him. The mercenary released Mario from his tight grasp, and Mario stretched out his arms and back, exhaling with relief.

"So, what exactly did happen last night?" Samus randomly asked out of curiosity.

"Link and I were on guard when a carbon copy of Peach showed up and attacked us," I answered. "Well, a Shadow-Bug copy of Peach, anyway. We had to fight her off, but when we did, Mario and Yoshi just happened to see us. Mario mistook the fake princess for the real Peach and became very upset. His anger blinded him from the truth, so we had to knock some sense into him somehow. Is this all making sense?" Everyone nodded in response.

"Well, we might as well wake the others," Snake commented, deciding to change the subject. Yoshi already took the liberty of gently poking Candace and Pit to wake them, and so we followed his lead. I then noticed that something was missing?

"Hey, where are my clothes?" I asked no one in particular. Samus then tapped my shoulder. I turned to face her and noticed that she brought me my shirts, which were now clean and fully repaired. Snake also handed Link his cleaned and repaired clothes.

"Snake and I were bored last night, so we decided to fix up your battle-damaged clothes for you," she replied with a wink. I grinned and took my shirts from her.

"Well, that was nice of you. Thank you." Link and I proceeded to get fully dressed, being careful not to cause further harm to our bandaged wounds. The others slowly became fully awake, and they noticed the addition of two new characters to the group.

"Well, what do you know, it's Mario and Yoshi," Kayla commented. "What brings you here?"

"Long story," Snake answered for them. "We'll explain later." The group cleaned up the camp, and Meta Knight spoke up as they did so.

"Listen up. We still have a threat that we must confront, and since we are fully rested and the Halberd is fully refueled, now would be a good time to do so. Understood?" Everyone nodded in agreement. With that said the group boarded the Halberd, and the giant battleship took off into the skies once more.


	24. Chapter 24: Great Reunion Great Invasion

Author's Notes: Hi guys! I'm back from Otakon, and it sure was awesome! Ahem, anyway...so now that I don't have to deal with anime conventions for the rest of the year (sad), I will have more time to write this fic! Yay! But wait, there's more! I'm almost done with my summer course, too, so that's more fic time for me! Oh, and there's also my job, but that won't hinder my fic time. So in short, I should be able to update this story much quicker, and if I don't...well, sue me (actually, please don't, lol).

Anyway, I'm rambling! So, this chapter should be a very good one. Be warned though, this chapter contains the actual scene from the Subspace Emissary (so if you don't like spoilers, don't read this chapter). I edited a few things and added a lot more detail to the scene to really narrate how it plays out. It's like playing Subspace Emissary again but with dialogue this time. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Yoshi: Yoshi Yoshi Yoshi!

CBK: -facepalm and sigh- Nevermind, Yoshi can't talk, but you know the drill by now...

* * *

Chapter 24: The Great Reunion and the Great Invasion

Once the Halberd took flight, the group gathered in the cockpit to plan out their next move. Some had suggested making an attempt to find more possible allies, while others argued to simply confront the enemy directly. The negotiation went on for almost two hours, but the group eventually came to a compromise. I decided to write down everyone's ideas onto a sheet of paper, and then I reviewed the final agreement with everyone else before writing it down.

"Okay, let me get this straight," I spoke up. "We're going to meet up with the rest of my friends and any allies they have with them, and afterwards we're going to invade Subspace so we can take down the Subspace Army. Am I right?" The others nodded to confirm my statement, and so I scribbled the note onto the paper. I then opened up a map of the world that Meta Knight had apparently kept with him on his ship, and so I circled the key areas of the map where my friends could be found, according to the visions that my friends and I have had of them.

We were about to fly towards the Isle of the Ancients, when a loud boom caught us off guard. Everyone rushed to the windshield to get a good view of the outside, and everyone gasped when they took in the sight the appeared in the distance: the Isle of the Ancients exploded completely, and an incredibly large sphere of Subspace – most likely the largest one yet – took its place. The Great Fox was about to head towards it when this happened, so it was forced to sharply turn around and go back.

"Well, it looks like we're not going to the Isle of the Ancients now," Will commented in a defeated tone. I then saw another ship flying away from the newly formed Subspace and making its way towards us. I got a better look at it and noticed that this ship was the Falcon Flyer.

"Hey, our friends are on those ships," Kayla stated.

"You're right," I agreed. "We need to rendezvous with them now. Meta Knight, can you make a quick landing?" Meta Knight simply nodded and took the helm, giving it a gentle turn as Mr. Game and Watch pulled some levers. The Halberd slowly descended to the ground and made a soft landing. The Great Fox and the Falcon Flyer followed suit and landed beside the Halberd. There were a few random Smashers that were on the ground, and they rushed towards the three ships. The occupants of all three ships exited and gathered with each other as well as the additional Smashers on the ground. We identified them as Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and the Ice Climbers.

"Brooke, you live!" a feminine voice shouted as a short, redheaded girl tackle-glomped me. I flinched and fell over at the surprise greeting, but when I got a better look at her, I recognized her as Renee.

"Hey, good to see you, too, Renee!" I replied as we both stood up. I looked around to see various Smashers meeting and greeting each other, either for the first time or as a result of a previously established friendship. I also saw my friends – all eight of them – reunited and appreciating each other's presence. Jess and Kayla were hugging each other, Lex and Jim were speaking excitedly to each other, apparently recalling their adventures in this world, and Kitty and Candace said hello to each other. Will briefly spoke to everyone, giving them all a warm welcome back.

I then looked back at the Smashers that were greeting each other, taking notice to certain groups of Smashers that especially grabbed my attention. Mario hugged Peach and practically cried his eyes out, Yoshi accompanying them and expressing joy. Marth and Ike greeted each other, honored to meet each other once again. Link kneeled to Zelda, expressing an air of courtesy towards her, the latter of whom responding with a proper curtsy. Samus, Snake and Captain Falcon looked on at the Smashers, amused by the scene taking place before them.

Not all of the Smashers were happy with each other, however. There was one Smasher that caught the attention of certain other Smashers, causing them to brandish their weapons and to prepare for a battle. When I got a better look at the scene, I saw that some Smashers such as Kirby, Pit and other unidentifiable Smashers had threatened to attack a certain R.O.B. Kitty, however, stood between R.O.B. and the Smashers, thus preventing them from striking.

"Wait, stop!" Kitty cried. "Don't attack R.O.B. He's on our side now."

"She's right," Renee added. "He had a change of heart and decided to help us."

"Is that so?" Pit retorted. "Well, somebody had better prove it."

"Well, R.O.B. isn't attacking us now, is he?" Jim commented. Suddenly Lucario approached R.O.B. and raised one of his aura-covered paws, closing his eyes as he did so. He focused on R.O.B. for a few seconds, and then he turned to face us.

"_His aura is pure_," Lucario stated. "_He is, in fact, siding with us._" Upon hearing this, Pit calmed down, and he and Kirby gave up their attempt to attack R.O.B.

"Hey, you're speaking again," Lex commented. "You must have your telepathic powers back." Lucario merely nodded in confirmation. R.O.B. then spoke up – rather, he made a bunch of robotic and mechanical sounds as a way to speak to us. Mr. Game and Watch beeped in response to R.O.B., and Meta Knight translated for both of them.

"Sir R.O.B. says that he is incredibly sorry for everything that has happened. He didn't mean to hurt us, but he was simply trying to protect his R.O.B. friends. He will join us and do whatever he can to help us save the world and defeat Subspace." It took a minute to take in Meta Knight's words, but the group decided to forgive R.O.B. and accept him as another vital member to the team. Certain details added up in my brain, and then I figured out something. _So, the Ancient Minister was actually R.O.B._, I told myself.

I then noticed that my eight friends had gathered together in their own clump, and so I decided to join them.

"Well, it certainly is a refreshing fact to know that we are all back together again," Candace commented proudly.

"I certainly agree," Renee added. "And now that we're all together, we can go home." Some of us just stared at her as if she had just said something incredibly stupid.

"Er…not quite, Renee," Jim rebutted. "We still have a few minor problems."

"What do you mean by that, Jim?" Kitty inquired.

"There's a tear in the sky that is blocked off by Subspace," Will answered for Jim. "So as long as Subspace is there, we can't leave through that tear/vortex thing."

"Besides that, it would be wrong for us to just leave when our new friends need our help," I added. "We have to work together to save their world and our world."

"Wait, our world is being threatened by Subspace as well?" Jess asked, surprised by my statement. I nodded.

"Well, what we need to do now is plan our next attack and confront the enemy," Kayla interjected. Everyone silently agreed, and then Lex spoke up.

"What the hell?" We noticed that Lex was staring at something, and then we all noticed at what she was staring. All of our Smash Bros. tattoos began to glow a brighter red than usual. We were all intrigued by this new occurrence, and yet none of us could explain the reason for it.

"I hate to interrupt everyone's personal affairs, but I believe we need to focus on the situation at hand," Meta Knight interrupted. All of the Smashers and my friends immediately turned their attention towards the blue knight, waiting to hear more from him. Everyone formed one giant circle in order to establish a more orderly fashion of planning.

"Be quiet, Meta Knight's about to speak again," Falco commanded. They did as he said.

"Now that we're all reunited with each other, I estimate that we now have a large enough coalition that can break through enemy defenses and take down the Subspace Army. Our great alliance should be more than enough to do that. Now, what we need to do is gather everyone onto each available airship and invade Subspace, the most suitable entrance being the location of the Isle of the Ancients. The easiest way to invade would be to gather the smaller airships into the hangar of the Halberd, and then the ships can take off if something goes wrong. Does everyone agree with me so far?" Some people chattered amongst themselves, while other simply nodded. A few people made no comment or expression at all.

"Whose ships are we taking?" Ike inquired.

"Excellent question, Sir Ike," Meta Knight answered. "We can take the Great Fox, a few Arwings, the Falcon Flyer, Samus' Gunship, Kirby's Dragoon Flyer, and the Hocotate Ship. Now then, we must make the preparations immediately." Everyone got to work - with no hesitation - preparing for the great invasion. Meta Knight opened up the massive hangar of the Halberd, allowing the ships to be loaded into it. Samus, Captain Falcon, Fox, Falco, R.O.B., Kirby and Olimar all loaded their airships into the hangar and made sure that they were in perfect flying condition. The others divided themselves up and boarded one of the ships according to the capacity of each ship. The Great Fox and the Falcon Flyer could carry the most passengers, while Kirby had to fly by himself. Fox and Falco could each squeeze one passenger into their fighter jets and did so. I boarded Samus' Gunship along with Samus, Link, Snake, Lex and Lucario.

Meta Knight took his place at the helm of the Halberd and made some final preparations. He activated the intercom system and spoke into a microphone.

"Attention passengers and pilots, I want everyone to report each ship's status," he announced.

"This is Samus on the Gunship, standing by," Samus responded on the intercom. "We're set and ready to fly."

"This is Captain Falcon on the Falcon Flyer, standing by," Captain Falcon answered on the intercom. "We're ready to roll."

"Okay!" Kirby exclaimed on his Dragoon Flyer, implying that he was ready.

"This is Captain Olimar on the Hocotate Ship, standing by," Olimar replied on the intercom. "We're all set."

"This is Fox and Falco on Arwing 1 and Arwing 2, standing by," Fox spoke for the two pilots. "We're ready for action!"

"R.O.B. on Great Fox, standing by," R.O.B. spoke in a pre-recorded voice. "Status: ready." With that said, every ship confirmed a state of readiness, and with Mr. Game and Watch's help Meta Knight lifted the Halberd off the ground, taking a grand flight.

The Battleship Halberd flew across the clear ocean, taking its course directly towards the massive sphere of Subspace, and just as said sphere came into view, the passengers could see a rather large device protruding from Subspace; it appeared to be a Subspace Gunship. Surely enough, the operators of the Gunship – Bowser and Ganondorf – stood confident atop the great machine. They had just fired an incredibly powerful purple laser into the distance, creating yet another sphere of Subspace.

Meta Knight activated the rocket boosters, causing the Halberd to accelerate much faster towards the Gunship. This apparently attracted attention from the villains, since they redirected the Gunship at the Halberd. They set off dozens of guns and lasers directly at the Halberd. The large battleship did well to dodge some of the shots, but one laser managed to skim the side of the ship, causing it to fly off-course.

"Pilots, prepare to eject!" Meta Knight shouted into the intercom. "I repeat, prepare to eject!" He then slammed his fist onto a button that opened the hangar of the ship so that the other ships could exit the Halberd. The ship suffered two more shots as Meta Knight flew off towards the hangar, dragging Mr. Game and Watch with him. Abandoning the Halberd, they boarded the Falcon Flyer and braced themselves for impact. One giant laser pierced through the entire front of the ship, causing the Halberd to fall apart and explode – but not before the other ships narrowly escaped the blast.

All of the smaller airships took off towards the Gunship, ready to dodge any attack that might head their way. Seeing this, Bowser and Ganondorf continued their assault on them, setting off more lasers. The Arwings and Samus' Gunship soared through the air flawlessly, performing stunts to dodge the oncoming lasers. The Great Fox and the Falcon Flyer stayed on course, taking advantage of the distraction made by the other ships. The Hocotate Ship struggled to stay afloat, but it nonetheless remained in the air, slowly but surely heading towards its destination. What of the Dragoon Flyer?

Out of seemingly nowhere the Dragoon appeared off to the side of the Gunship. Kirby flew the Dragoon at top speed and rammed into the center of the Gunship and through it. Upon impact the Gunship began to combust and fall apart. Bowser and Ganondorf returned into Subspace, obviously peeved by the failure of the machine, leaving the rest of the ship to fully explode and fall into the ocean.

The other ships then set their sights on Subspace, the Arwings leading the invasion, followed by the Great Fox and the Falcon Flyer. Kirby flew alongside Samus' Gunship as they entered Subspace. The Hocotate Ship kept on truckin' as it took the rear of the fleet, indicating the last of the ships to enter Subspace.

The entrance into Subspace was ever so slightly turbulent, but other than that it was just fine. We found a somewhat decent place to land the ships and park them, and the passengers quickly exited the ships. The Smashers appeared to be extremely focused on the fight to come, while my friends looked horrified from the flight that they just took. A few people, however, had different expressions.

"Meta Knight, are you okay, man?" Captain Falcon asked.

"I'm…I'll be fine," the blue knight answered, trying to cover up his apparent sorrow, but he was failing miserably at that. I, on the other hand, had other problems.

"Eh…you don't look so good," Lex stated the obvious. I was on my knees, clutching my stomach with one hand and covering my mouth with the other hand.

"Yeah…just a bit," I replied, feeling incredibly nauseous. "I'm good, though." I forgot to mention to the group that I generally get motion sick when I'm riding any type of vehicle unless I'm the one operating it. I held back the temptation to throw up and forced myself to recover from the nausea. Fortunately, it worked rather quickly, and I was able to stand upright without any problems.

Once the group got over whatever problems anyone had, we all set our sights on the biggest fight yet to come. Believe me, we still had a long way to go before we were done.


	25. Chapter 25: The Beginning of the End

Author's Notes: Whoa...4000+ hits?! That's incredible, and we're only about two-thirds done with the story. You guys rock! ...now if only I'd get more reviews...

Anyway, this is where the action and the excitement really picks up. Of course, this chapter begins the part of the Subspace adventure _inside_ Subspace. Again, things from that part of the adventure mode have been tweaked, but what you'll really notice is that I made some major changes to the plot. You'll find out why, but I think that will be a few chapters from now. Actually, there are two or three changes in this chapter, so you'll get an early treat.

So, enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Captain Falcon: FALCON says that Captain Black Knight doesn't own Smash Bros. or the characters. Especially not FALCON! Yes!

CBK: -_-' -sigh-

* * *

Chapter 25: The Beginning of the End

The coalition of thirty-five fighters stood at the entrance to Subspace. I figured that some Smashers were missing, but that didn't seem like a big deal at the moment. Anyway, some Smashers gripped their weapons, while others clenched their fists, while the rest of us simply glowered into the darkness. My friends didn't really know what to think or how to react.

"Uh…how exactly are we supposed to walk on this…stuff?" Kitty awkwardly asked, lightly poking the 'floor' with her toe. I simply facepalmed.

"Way to ruin the epic moment, Kitty," I muttered, annoyed by the fact that she did such a thing.

"I suppose we tread on the lit-up parts of the floor and avoid the other areas," Red suggested.

"Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's move," Samus interjected. With one step I took the lead, and then the great march to the enemy finally began.

Treading through the Subspace environment wasn't too bad. It just created a dreadful feeling that loomed over everyone's heads. Some – Lucas and Pikachu in particular – were even becoming paranoid, reacting to every possible sound that they heard. Along the way we had to fight various Subspace enemies, but fortunately we no longer had to deal with hostile R.O.B. troops.

After what seemed like three hours we advanced to another area of Subspace, and, lo and behold, we managed to find Bowser and Ganondorf. Rather than charge the two villains right away, we decided to spy on them from afar. Everyone gathered on an upper ledge to quietly observe the actions of the two villains down below.

Bowser and Ganondorf returned from the recently destroyed Subspace Gunship. As Bowser stomped along, Ganondorf lagged behind, allowing the Koopa to get ahead of him. When the timing was right, Ganondorf whipped out a Dark Cannon and charged it. Bowser was too dense to realize what was going on or what Ganondorf was about to do to him. The Gerudo fired, and BAM! Bowser fell to the floor as a cold, gray trophy. Ganondorf then proceeded to unceremoniously kick Bowser off to the side where it would be shunned for a while.

Ganondorf walked over to another part of the floor and looked up into the dark 'sky'. He raised his arms and presented himself to no one in particular. Seconds later a giant object slowly came into view in front of the King of Evil. Everyone got a good look at it and saw the easily recognizable white-gloved hand.

"Master H—" Link hissed before I tightly covered his mouth with my hand.

"Stay quiet, or they'll hear us," I whispered to him. He obeyed, and so I released him. We continued to observe the scene before us, and fortunately neither Ganondorf nor Master Hand became aware of our presence.

"Ah, Ganondorf, I see you have returned," the booming voice of Master Hand spoke. "Where is Bowser?" Ganondorf looked a bit uneasy at the question.

"I'm not sure," Ganondorf lied. "However, I am still here to humbly serve you." He then bowed slightly to the hand.

"Well, I have some news for you," Master Hand replied. "I'm afraid that I no longer have any need of your services." Ganondorf gasped and looked up at the hand in disgust.

"That can't be. Why are you dismissing me?"

"The answer is simple. I have gathered enough parts of the world to rule it from Subspace, and now I can freely enter the other world and dominate it as well. Therefore, you are no longer of any use to me." Ganondorf was pissed now. He jumped towards the floating hand and brought his fist back, ready to punch him. Master Hand, however, saw it coming and slapped Ganondorf into the ground with a loud thud. After that Ganondorf was nothing more than a still trophy.

_Oh my God, I can't believe that Master Hand would do that to Ganondorf_, I thought, utterly surprised at what just happened. Right then I knew that we had to do something about Master Hand.

"Hmm, that fool honestly believed that he could surpass me, and look what happened as a consequence," Master Hand muttered, although his voice sounded a bit different than it normally did. "That ought to set an example to the rest of the Smashers and anyone else who tries to get in my way."

"MASTER HAND!" I shouted out while standing up. The floating hand turned its attention towards me upon hearing my voice through the darkness.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Master Hand interrogated. Apparently he could only see me, and the rest of the group was invisible to him. Then again, I was the only one standing, while the others crouched or lied on their stomachs. That was fine by me.

"Do you honestly need to even ask that question?" I retorted, acting as if the hand was incredibly ignorant.

"Ah, you must be the infamous Brooke," he commented after apparently recognizing me. "I heard about you many times, and I've seen you on your endeavors. You certainly don't quit; I'll give you credit for that."

"You've got that right," I replied smugly. "Tell me why you're doing this."

"I thought that you knew that already. I simply feel a need to enforce my superiority, and so I want to completely cover this world and yours in Subspace, so that I can properly rule them both from within the darkness for all eternity."

"So you are trying to take over Earth! Well, I have news for you: you can't have it!"

"Is that what you call your world? Well, says the foolish young woman who thinks she can stop me from carrying out my objective."

"You know what, I will stop you, Master Hand, but I won't do it alone. I brought friends." One by one my friends stood up, revealing themselves to the hand as I did. Master Hand just scoffed.

"I see you found all of your friends. No matter, not even the nine of you can defeat me."

"Who says there are nine of us? If you ask me, I count thirty-five." Upon that comment every Smasher stood up, one right after another, and Master Hand flinched at the sight of the sheer size of our army. I brandished my blade, and anyone else with a weapon also did the same.

"All troops…MOVE OUT!" I shouted – totally stealing Pit's trademark phrase in the process. I leaped from the ledge, and the others followed my lead. The army charged at Master Hand, ready to take him down once and for all. Master Hand, however, looked far too prepared for a situation like this. The army then stopped once everyone noticed his lack of a reaction.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to deal with all of you alone…or do I?" he commented. He then snapped his fingers, and suddenly another sinister laugh echoed through the darkness. This time, the laugh sounded much higher and had a twisted effect on anyone who listened to it. Then out of seemingly nowhere another object slowly came into view. It appeared next to Master Hand as…another hand?

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned.

"What is it, Brooke?" Renee asked me.

"That's Crazy Hand," I answered, pointing to the new hand.

"Yes, that's me," Crazy Hand announced in his higher-pitched voice. "Did you honestly believe that I wouldn't become involved with Master Hand's plot? He's not the only one who designed these events." Every word that Crazy Hand spoke was beginning to get on my nerves.

"Just shut up and fight us!" I snapped.

"Fine," he sighed. "If you insist. Shall we take them down?"

"With the full force of our power, yes," Master Hand answered. No one hesitated to make the first move. Everyone charged at the two hands and began their assault on them. Link, Marth and I fiercely slashed at Master Hand. Meta Knight and Ike did the same to Crazy Hand. Will used a hammer that he got from Mario and pounded Crazy Hand with it like there was no tomorrow.

The hands weren't about to put up with our attacks without retaliating in some way. They spread out and then clapped together, hoping to flatten some of the fighters in the process. Most of us jumped or dove out of the way, but a few Smashers, like Yoshi, Lucas, and the Ice Climbers, failed to get out the way in time, and so they took some major damage as a result.

Fox, Falco, Pit, Candace, and Jim – Jim had found a Ray Gun earlier – stayed away from the fray and instead opened fire on the hands, using their blasters and arrows to slowly add to the damage that the white gloves were already taking.

Master Hand fought back once again, this time shooting lasers from his fingers. Said lasers were easily dodged, but they grazed Mario and Donkey Kong, causing them to suffer a few minor burns. Crazy Hand formed himself into the shape of a gun and charged a shot. He fired a couple flaming bullets, but Samus successfully stopped them with a charged Power Shot.

Snake took advantage of Master Hand's brief distraction by planting one of his C4 devices onto his little finger. He then backed up, threw several grenades, and then detonated the C4. It and the grenades exploded all at once, dealing quite a bit of damage and leaving Master Hand in a massive explosion.

Captain Falcon and Zelda had fun making Crazy Hand burn like hell. Zelda used Din's Fire again and again on the glove while Captain Falcon unleashed a barrage of Falcon Kicks and the infamous Falcon Punch. Speaking of which…

"FALCON PAUWNCH!" he shouted as he attacked Crazy Hand with his signature move. My Earth-residing friends all cheered and laughed their heads off when they gazed at him doing this. Kitty and Renee, however, paid for their distraction as they were grabbed by each of the hands and crushed within their grasp. Kayla and Lex wasted no time in attacking the floating gloves. As Kayla smacked Master Hand with twin Fans (don't ask me why), Lex shot Crazy Hand with the Super Scope – don't even ask me where they found those items. Both hands failed to maintain their grips on the girls, and so they let go of them. Peach and Red immediately dragged Renee and Kitty away from further harm.

_Something isn't right_, I thought. _The hands have been taking so much damage, but they don't seem to be slowing down one bit. Why won't they give up?_ I watched Olimar throw his Pikmin at Master Hand as Diddy Kong fired peanuts at Crazy Hand, but the two of them were quickly slapped away as a result. Something had to be done to end this, but what could we do?

Off to the side I noticed that Kirby took the time to assemble the Dragoon and that he was almost finished. I also saw something appear above him, and boy, was it a sight to behold – it was none other than a Smash Ball. It appeared right when we needed it the most, as if it was on cue (again).

"Smashers, get that Smash Ball!" I cried as I pointed to the aimlessly floating object. As the Smashers noticed the Smash Ball, the hands also noticed it and tried to stop us from obtaining it. Wordlessly the Smashers decided amongst themselves who had the best Final Smashes, and so those who did have amazing Final Smashes charged after the almighty object to break it open, while the others stalled for time by distracting the hands with various stunning attacks. Meta Knight and Pikachu were especially good at distracting the hands due to their ability to fly and run around at breakneck speeds.

The most qualified Smashers began their assault on the shining ball with as much effectiveness as possible. Mario punched the Smash Ball, but it quickly flew away from him, so he didn't get a chance to attack it again. Snake and Samus shot missiles at the floating ball, but the missiles did little damage. Red sent Charizard to fly towards the ball and burn it, but the flames had little effect. Marth and Ike both swiped at the ball, but they missed. Link threw his boomerang to bring the Smash Ball close to him, and he slashed it. This attack finally put cracks in the ball, but it wasn't enough to break it. Zelda kicked the ball in midair, while Captain Falcon did the same with his knee. Both attacks were strong, but the Smash Ball seemed to be much stronger.

It was Lucario who used Extremespeed to hit the Smash Ball and finally caused it to shatter. As a result the power of the Smash Ball flowed into his body and coursed through his veins. His eyes glowed yellow, and his body emitted an aura of ever-changing colors. The blue Pokémon turned to look at Kirby and me and stared at us.

"_Are you ready?_" he calmly asked. I turned to look at Kirby, who had just completed the assembly of the Dragoon. He climbed aboard the flying machine and brought it a few feet above the ground.

"Yeah, he's ready," I answered for the puffball. Lucario nodded, and he and Kirby charged at the hands. The attacking Smashers quickly moved out of the way in order to give them some space and to avoid whatever attack they were about to unleash.

Kirby struck first. He flew the Dragoon at a ridiculously high velocity and rammed it directly into Crazy Hand. Crazy Hand then screeched in agony, and the high-pitched scream definitely caused discomfort to our ears as our eardrums rang. The left hand then fell to the ground palm-up, crumpled up into a fist, and then collapsed into a limp state. Lucario saw the opportunity to strike next.

"_Watch the power of aura!_" he yelled within our minds. He leaped up into the air and raised both of his aura-covered paws. After charging up his aura and with a battle cry he unleashed a mighty Aura Storm attack on Master Hand with as much power as he could muster. The massive beam of aura energy racked up huge amounts of damage onto the hand at an alarming rate. Everyone looked on in awe as Lucario continued his onslaught. When he was finished, the beam dissipated, and Master Hand also fell to the ground. The right hand remained still afterwards.

Lucario slowly floated down onto the ground as the Smash Ball's power left him. Kirby jumped off the disappearing Dragoon and landed next to him.

"That…was…freaking awesome!" Lex cried as she ran over to Lucario and Kirby. Will did the same and high-fived the pink puffball. Lucario simply nodded and gave a small smile in response, which caused Lex to do the same. There was no denying that everyone was impressed by the last two attacks on the hands.

"Guys…" Jess interjected. "I don't think it's over…look!" Everyone turned their attention to Jess as she pointed in the direction of the hands, and they all gasped. Indeed the hands twitched and stirred, and they slowly rose off the ground, but something was off about that. It appeared that the hands were being forcefully lifted from the ground, as if they had strings attached to them.

Speaking of which I just noticed that golden lines began to manifest from the hands – I think they were called Chains of Light. The chains pulled on the hands and controlled them like puppets. If that was the case, then who was the puppeteer?


	26. Chapter 26: The Worst of Our Problems

Author's Notes: Yay!!! Mu summer course is finally over!!!! You know what that means...update time!! -victory dance-

So, behold the chapter that features the final boss! Woot! *Warning: if you haven't finished Subspace Emissary, and you hate spoilers, do not read further!* So, this is the beginning of many chapters that involve the final battle and such. Again, I made many minor and major changes to the plot of SE to fit this story. If you know what the Great Maze is, for example, I took that out for the sake of time and sanity. I apologize if you're disapponted by that, but this is my story. Well, enjoy!

Ike: -plants sword into ground- Hmph...Captain Black Knight only owns the OCs in this story as well as the story itself.

* * *

Chapter 26: The Worst of Our Problems

A low chuckle could be heard through the darkness, and everyone looked around for its source. Eyes fixed on the Chains of Light and followed their paths towards the end, where they met in a jumble slightly obstructed by Subspace. The source of the Chains of Light slowly began to appear as the Subspace twisted itself.

"I don't like the look of this," Ike whispered as he stared. No one really liked the look of whatever was manifesting itself. An unfamiliar figure revealed itself from Subspace, and it appeared to take the form of a blue man with a body made from data. His face lacked detailed features, but no one needed to see his facial expressions to figure out that he was a menace.

"What?!" Jim randomly cried out. "That can't be!"

"What is it, Jim?" Lex asked. "What's wrong?" Jim pointed to the blue man.

"That guy up there…that's Tabuu!" he answered.

"Wait, _that's_ Tabuu? I've heard of him, but I didn't know that he was the true being behind this Subspace mess."

"Well, it appears that now you know," Tabuu interrupted as he joined the conversation. "So the Smashers have finally made it to this point, and they even brought friends." He started to slowly clap his hands together as he spoke. "I congratulate you all for doing so well and working your way here. Sadly, I must say that your efforts are in vain, for the journey ends here, and there's no turning back."

"Tabuu, what do you want?" I interrogated him. "Why are you doing this?" Yes, I know I've asked that question too many times, but it's always a necessary question to ask in times like this. Isn't it?

"Hmm, I should have known that you would be curious," he replied. "If I told you, I would have to kill you. However, you're all going to die soon, so it wouldn't hurt to explain everything to you."

"Well, if you're going to tell us, then shut up and do it," Candace interjected. Does she even realize that she made an incredibly contradictory comment? Well, that's beside point.

"Well, such impatience. All right, I'll tell you. I'll start by saying that Subspace has existed for several aeons and that I've been the ruler of Subspace since the beginning of its existence. However, over time I felt that ruling Subspace was rather boring, and I didn't reap any benefit from having the world of Subspace in my hands. Thus, I decided to venture outside of Subspace and claim territories in other worlds, but there was one problem with that: I cannot leave Subspace. That, however, didn't stop me from reaching my goals. When I encountered Master Hand and Crazy Hand, I challenged them to a battle. I overpowered them, and upon defeat I took control of the two hands. I then used them to recruit the likes of villainous Smashers like Ganondorf, Bowser, and Wario. I knew that they would listen to the hands, so I took advantage of that fact. I instructed them to invade the Isle of the Ancients and threaten the R.O.B.s who inhabited it. The Master Robot, whom I named the Ancient Minster, had no choice but to surrender to my recruits and me. Under his command I forced the R.O.B.s to design and create Subspace Bombs in order to spread Subspace throughout the world of the Smashers. Once I dragged enough parts of the world into Subspace, I could then bring out the Subspace Gunship and use it to conquer the rest of the world."

"That must be the reason you stole Meta Knight's ship." Jim stated. "You wanted to spread your army throughout the world and keep captured Smashers in a secure place. Am I right?"

"Yes, you are correct. Anyway, as I executed my plan, I became avaricious. I already ruled Subspace, and I knew that I could take over this world easily. However, I wanted more than that. Ruling two worlds was not enough for me, so I set my sights on your world and the rest of the universe. After I claimed the Halberd, I peered into the world you call Earth, and I spied on the many humans that inhabit the planet. I could have taken anyone from your world and placed them into this one, but when I saw you and your friends, I knew that the nine of you would be perfect for my plot to rule the universe. I knew that by capturing you and sending each of you to various parts of the world, you would be motivated to get help from the Smashers and reunite once again."

"So that's why you tainted the Nintendo Wii," Kayla said. "You designed it to react to your power and the thunderstorm in order to teleport us to another dimension."

"Precisely. Your presence here played an important role in the triumph of my ultimate plan, and, of course, I had many other reasons for you to be here, but I won't delve into that story. Anyway, since you did exactly as I predicted, I was successful in bringing all of you together in Subspace and luring every single one of you into a trap. And now, because you nine Earth inhabitants are not in your own world, there's nothing you can do to stop the invasion of the Subspace Army and the conquest of Earth. Once I do that, I will use Earth as a base to conquer the rest of the universe!" Tabuu started to chuckle lowly, but then his laugh grew louder and developed into a maniacal laugh.

_So that thunderstorm…the malfunctioning Wii…the teleportation into another world…none of that was an accident_, I deduced in my head. _Tabuu wanted us here, and we fell for his trap. God damnit!_ I gritted my teeth together and gripped my sword tighter as I scowled at the blue man controlling the hands.

"So what if we're all here?" Renee blurted out. "That just means we can all destroy you together!"

"I don't think so," Tabuu responded coldly. Suddenly, the hands struggled against the might of Tabuu. They tried everything they could to release themselves from the Chains of Light, but Tabuu wouldn't let up. "Don't even attempt to get away from me. You never will."

This comment angered some of the Smashers despite themselves. Mario couldn't hold back his frustration anymore. He got a good running start from the back of the group.

"Mario, wait!" Peach cried out, but he didn't listen to her. He jumped into the air and flung himself towards Tabuu. The latter, however, retaliated calmly with a small energy blast that hit Mario square in the chest. He flew back and slammed right into the back of Crazy Hand. Upon impact Mario turned into a trophy, but that also gave Crazy Hand the momentum he needed to sever one of the chains and then break away from the rest of them. The left hand collided with the floor, but not before the Smashers got out of the way to avoid being crushed.

"Please…help my brother," he spoke weakly as he tried to get up. Captain Falcon looked from Crazy Hand to Mario's trophy and then to Tabuu, getting an idea.

"That worked somewhat," he stated. "It's my turn to try!" He dashed without warning to attempt the same feat as Mario.

"Captain Falcon, what are you doing?" Olimar shouted. "That won't work!" Captain Falcon also ignored the warning. He used the Falcon Dive to get some air, and then he jumped off Master Hand and towards Tabuu. He reared back his right fist and charged his most famous attack.

"FALCON PAWNCH!!" he shouted his trademark battle phrase as his fist collided with, to his disappointment, a blue shield that appeared around Tabuu. Captain Falcon struggled to punch through the shield, but the shield pushed him back, and he too tumbled downward – only to hit the back of Master Hand, of course. The F-Zero pilot turned into a trophy instantly, suffering the same fate as the red plumber. Fortunately, the results were satisfactory. Master Hand jerked forward from the impact and severed one of his chains, and he also gained enough momentum to break them all. The right hand slammed into the floor opposite of the left hand – again, the Smashers had to move to get out of his way.

"Finally…revenge," he muttered in a weak voice. Both hands flexed and rose from the ground, and without warning they both curled up into fists and charged at Tabuu. We all thought that the sheer power of both hands combined would be enough to shatter Tabuu's defense, but we were definitely proven wrong. Tabuu raised his shield again with no effort, and both hands collided with the shield. Like Captain Falcon the hands struggled and fought against the force of the shield, attempting to obliterate it. However, no such thing occurred as the shield shoved them back as well. They fell back and hit the floor hard. They flexed and tried to get up, but they collapsed and remained still. We couldn't tell if the hands were dead, but we were sure that they would not get up anytime soon.

"Crap!" Will blurted. "If Captain Falcon and Mario couldn't get to Tabuu, and the hands couldn't hit him, then what are we gonna do?"

"That's simple," Tabuu answered as a pair of rainbow butterfly wings manifested from his back. "You will do nothing, for I shall annihilate you now!" He curled up and gathered energy around his body, obviously charging an attack of some sort. Before any of us could react, he snapped open his wings and unleashed a great red wave of energy. It flew in our direction and hit every single one of us, catching us in its inverted color zone. One by one the Smashers turned into trophies and hit the ground. My friends and I couldn't turn into trophies, and thus I saw each of my friends collapse where they stood. As my vision became dark, I heard one last evil laugh from Tabuu.

_Damn you…_, I thought as I collapsed. Everything went black at that point.

_The world around me was dark…completely black. I could see nothing. Then again, I could hear and feel nothing as well. My body floated in deep dark space, but my mind raced with thoughts. What was this sensation? Could it be?_

Am I experiencing death? _I asked myself. _So this is what it's like. _Okay, so I could hear my own thoughts_. Wait a minute. If I'm dead, that means that all of my friends are dead as well. The Smashers are lying as cold, still trophies, and Tabuu must be celebrating his victory. _Well, that certainly wasn't a good thing._

_I felt like I was floating in this abyss for several hours, but for all I knew, it could have been days, weeks even. I had no sense of time in this place. I thought it was odd, however, that I could still remember everything that occurred prior to this moment. Damn, and we were doing so well until Tabuu appeared and ruined everything. Now I was alone in this abyss with nowhere to go and nothing to do about it._

Wait a minute…am I really alone? _I asked myself. _I can't be the only one in this place. There must be someone around here. _I figured that if my friends suffered the same fate as I did, then at least one of them had to be here as well._

"_Hello?" I called out. I waited, but I heard no reply. I called out again, but no one answered. I called out a third time, but it failed. At that point I decided to give up on that fact._

"_Hello?" a voice asked. I stood corrected. I had no idea who it was or from where it came, but someone was definitely there. "Hey, are you all right? Hello? Hello?"_

"Hello?"

"Agh!" I flinched and snapped open my eyes, startled by the voice. I then partially closed my eyes from the light of Subspace as my pupils had to focus. All I could see before me was a green blur with some other combination of colors.

"Hey, you're awake," the green blur said. "You look like you got beaten up pretty badly. Are you okay?" I supposed that the blur was actually a man clad in green, and his voice was familiar. I assumed that it was Link, but wasn't he still stuck as a trophy? When my eyes fully focused, the man in green became clear in my view, and – wow, I actually recognized him. He wore a green shirt and hat, blue overalls, brown shoes, and white gloves, and that mustache of his was unmistakable.

"L—Luigi?!" I asked, surprised to see the younger Mario brother looking down at me.

"Yep! That's-a me!" he replied quite cheerfully. "It seems that you recognize me. That flatters me, since not many people do – at least, compared to Mario anyway." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his comment.

"You'd be surprised at how many people from my world know you," I commented, slowly sitting up. "Anyway, what's going on?"

"Well, I found you lying here out cold, so I came to your aid," he answered. "Ness and Dedede are checking on your friends as we speak." I looked past them to see that Ness and King Dedede were indeed checking on my out cold friends. Jim noticed Ness as he woke up, and he reacted with a small grin. Kitty, on the other hand, freaked out as soon as she woke up to the penguin-likeness of Dedede.

"Wait, my friends are here, but what about the other Smashers?"

"Other Smashers? Well, I don't know. We only just got to this point of Subspace, and we only found you guys. I guess that the rest of them are scattered somewhere around here. Even if they are spread out, it shouldn't take long to find them. Trust me, Subspace is not that vast." I let out a small smile as a response to Luigi's confidence, and then I stood up and walked over to my now fully awake friends.

"Well, whom have we here?" King Dedede inquired in a kingly manner.

"Call me Brooke," I answered. "I already know that you're King Dedede, and I know Ness and Luigi as well." Dedede merely nodded.

"Hey guys," Luigi interjected. "According to Brooke, we have some Smashers to find."

"Well then, if that's the case, then let's go Smasher-hunting," Dedede replied eagerly.

"I agree," I added, motioning to my friends. "Come on, guys. Let's move!"


	27. Chapter 27: Gaining the Most Unexpected

Author's Notes: Wow, the beginning of fall semester sucks royally...at least I can submit this chapter during the Labor Day weekend! Oh yeah, expect updates to be slow again with the workload I have (shoot me).

So, here's another chapter that somewhat follows the direct plot of the Subspace Emissary, but once again I have edited it majorly to fit the plot of this story. Spoiler-sensitive people, beware...

This should be a good chapter. It contains action and humor - always a nice combination. I actually took the time to edit a few things, so enjoy the revised masterpiece! Enjoy it, I say!

Luigi: Um...Captain Black Knight (???) only owns the story and its OCs. None of us are owned in any manner (I certainly hope so).

* * *

Chapter 27: Gaining the Most Unlikely Allies

My friends and I wandered through Subspace with our new Smasher allies, Luigi, Ness, and King Dedede. Our mission: to find and revive the rest of the fallen Smashers. After that we could confront Tabuu for a second time and finally defeat him.

Something bothered me about this whole spiel, though. I noticed that Wolf never came back to help us, and those villainous Smashers are still out there, most likely lying as trophies. I thought to myself whether we could possibly convince the villains to temporarily set aside their grudges for the good guys and work with us to defeat the real threat. That also brought me to another thought. How were we supposed to defeat Tabuu if he was invincible and all-powerful? Well, like all villains he had to have some kind of weakness, right?

"And that brings us to the present situation," Luigi finished his explanation of his adventures with Dedede and Ness.

"Oh, I see," I replied. "So King Dedede saved you two?"

"Yup," he answered. "Those timed badges of his really helped us out when we were in a pickle. It's no wonder Dedede tried to kidnap as many fallen Smashers as possible. Right?"

"Exactly," King Dedede responded. "I knew from the beginning that something like this would happen, so that's why I created those badges and captured Smashers like Luigi and Ness. I was originally up to no good, but when I encountered Tabuu a while ago, he horrified me. He was going to destroy everyone who stood in his way, no matter what his or her alignment. He only wants servants with no free will of their own, and so I knew that Bowser, Ganondorf and Wario would eventually be backstabbed. Therefore, I had a temporary change of heart and created my own plan to save the world. I knew that if Tabuu eventually rendered all of the Smashers lifeless, that would leave no one else to save them or the world from the Subspace Emissary. That's why I came up with that last resort ploy."

"Yep, and now that it worked, we're here to save the other Smashers!" Ness added gleefully.

"You guys are awesome," Renee spoke up. With that compliment the three 'musketeers' marched on, confident that they would successfully complete the Smasher hunt. After a while we did eventually find one Smasher trophy. However, not only was the trophy not one of our allies, but it was also one of most unlikely Smashers to join us in our fight against Tabuu. Dedede didn't care, though, for he waddled up to the trophy and touched its base, reviving none other than—yep, you guessed it: Bowser.

In a flash of light Bowser roared back to life, trying to scare away whoever approached his previously lifeless form. Dedede would not be so easily intimidated, though. He backed off a bit and assumed a defensive stance, raising his trusty hammer, should he have to fight.

"Dedede?" Bowser uttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," Dedede answered snidely. "Besides, you ought to be thanking me for saving your scaly ass."

"Screw that, you're not even on my side." Bowser assumed a stance of his own and raised his claws, ready to tear Dedede to shreds.

_Oh crap,_ I said inwardly. _Looks like another battle is about to ensue. _The two fat Smashers glared at each other, and if looks could kill, they would both be lying dead at that point. The royal penguin gripped his hammer so hard it would have probably snapped at any moment, while the royal Koopa flexed his claws and breathed a bit of smoke from his nostrils.

"Be careful, King Dedede!" Will blurted randomly. "Bowser's tough!" Most of us just stared at Will due to the fact that he just stated the blatantly obvious. Regardless, Dedede kept that in mind.

"Is this really necessary?" Lex inquired with an irritated tone.

"Yes," both heavyweight Smashers answered simultaneously with great emphasis. Lex just blinked and said nothing afterwards. The other two went back to glowering at each other, but when Dedede and Bowser charged at each other, the Battle of the Kings commenced.

"I hope you're ready to lose, you fat penguin!" Bowser shouted as he swiped at Dedede but missed.

"Same goes for you, you fat turtle!" Dedede yelled as he swung his hammer at Bowser only to miss his target. I told myself, _wow, that's a lot of trash talk. So this is what a villains' battle is all about._

So far the fight went on as a mere standoff. Neither opponent had the advantage or gave way to the other. Bowser was too slow to keep up with Dedede, while Dedede was not strong enough to break through Bowser's defenses.

Bowser finally got a hold of Dedede, and he did a somersault in the air with Dedede in tow, and that resulted in Bowser body-slamming Dedede into the ground.

"Ooh, that had to hurt," Candace commented as she intently watched the battle. After recovering Dedede decided to take the battle up a notch. He reached into his coat, whipped out a Waddle Dee and threw it at Bowser's face. The minion bounced off Bowser's snout and attracted attention to itself.

"Is _this_ the best you've got?" Bowser remarked as he picked up the tiny minion. "You plan on beating me with this marshmallow?" Of course, Bowser was completely distracted, so Dedede took advantage of that moment and hit Bowser's foot with his hammer. Bowser roared in pain, dropped the Waddle Dee, and nursed his foot, bouncing around like an idiot. Dedede seized that moment and jumped into the air. Afterwards, he slammed his ass down onto Bowser's head.

"Yeah! Go King Dedede!" my friends all cheered as he was totally beating the tar out of Bowser. The Koopa, however, would not put up with that. He scratched Dedede with his claws and then spat fire at the penguin, causing his coat to burn in the process.

"Hey, this is a good coat!" Dedede snapped. Oh, now he was pissed. He reached into his coat again and pulled out…a Gordo? Yep, he managed to, by chance, whip out one of his better minions and throw it at Bowser. The Gordo hit Bowser in the jaw and caused whiplash on his neck. Dedede used the time to charge the rocket in his hammer, and when it was fully charged, he wound up and swung the hammer. BAM! He smashed Bowser across the cheek and knocked him down. In a matter of seconds Bowser reverted back into his trophy form, clearly defeated by Dedede.

"Alright! Dedede won!" Jim shouted in glee. The penguin turned to face his comrades, and then he did a victory dance with his hammer. The others laughed and cheered as he did so, and I simply looked on, impressed with the king's victory. Dedede then did something that none of us expected: he walked over to the Bowser trophy and revived it – again!

An instant replay came before our eyes as Bowser roared once again to scare away anyone in his vicinity. He glared at Dedede and growled in his face, but the penguin kept a smug look on his face as he flicked the snout of the giant Koopa, putting him in his place. Bowser knew better than to mess with Dedede after that, so he simply folded his arms and looked away, pouting as he did so.

"Well then," Dedede started. "Are you going to help us or not? You realize that there is something bigger than all of us threatening the existence of the universe, right?" Bowser didn't answer him at first, since he was gathering his thoughts.

"Fine," he groaned. "I'll come along and help, but don't expect me to be all friendly towards you guys, especially after this mess is all over." I was rather pleased by the fact that Bowser agreed to work with us despite his negative nature. Since we gained a new, unexpected ally, we decided to move on and find the rest of the Smashers.

As we continued forward, we saw a few figures in the distance walking towards us. After getting a better look at them, we recognized them as Kirby, Snake, Marth, Peach, and Lucario. Both groups picked up the pace in order to meet up with their allies. King Dedede even went as far as to tackle-glomp Kirby in joy. Kirby thought it was a bit awkward, but he didn't really mind the greeting.

"Hey guys, how did you manage to get here?" Lex inquired. "We thought you guys were still stuck as trophies." Kirby piped up with various indistinct sounds for a whole minute.

"The puffball here claims that he ate some kind of badge that looked like King Dedede and that said badge revived him," Snake translated Kirby's words – if you can even call them words. "He then went on a quest to look for the others, and he managed to find and revive the four of us."

"Haha! I told you that the badges would work!" King Dedede exclaimed with pride towards his invention – despite the fact that he didn't tell the others and that he already told us this the first time. "Although if Kirby got a hold of that badge, then I guess Zelda lost hers. That's a shame."

"_I see that you have acquired a few new allies_," Lucario interjected as he looked at two of them skeptically.

"Oh yeah, about that," I replied with a small chuckle. "King Dedede, Luigi and Ness found us, and then we found Bowser. It took a bit of 'persuasion', but we managed to get Bowser to join us." Bowser pouted again as I said that, and Peach couldn't help but giggle a bit. Marth interrupted the group.

"Marth says that we should get moving if we want to find the others," Snake translated for Marth. We all confirmed that fact, and we set off in a new direction to continue our search.

We all walked along for another hour or so before we came across another trophy. Again, this trophy was not one of our allies. Rather, it was one of the enemy Smashers. Kirby innocently walked towards it, but before he could get anywhere near the trophy, Bowser charged at it, apparently incredibly pissed off.

"Ganondorf, you lying, double-crossing, conniving, back-stabbing son of a bitch!" Bowser yelled as he kicked, bit, clawed, and stomped the Ganondorf trophy. After a good two minutes the Koopa King slowly stomped off in the direction we were originally traveling, supposedly being rather calm after venting his frustration on the Gerudo King.

"What the hell was that for?" Luigi wondered as he glanced at Bowser and then at the Ganondorf trophy, baffled by the fact that one villain expressed hate towards another. I knew perfectly well why Bowser had a grudge against Ganondorf, but I decided not to explain it.

"It beats me, but maybe we ought to revive this guy," Ness answered as he pointed to the trophy. "So…who wants to do it?"

"I honestly don't think we should," Kayla responded hesitantly.

"Aww, come on, guys!" I said as I made my way over to the trophy. "If we convinced Bowser, then we can convince Ganondorf, right? I'm sure it won't hurt to give it a try." With that said I tapped the trophy base, despite a few protests from the group, and in a flash the Gerudo King stood before us.

"What the hell? What's going on?" he inquired.

"Hey there, Ganny!" I greeted him. I soon regretted saying that, because Ganondorf became angry really quickly as he reared back his fist to punch me. I, however, raised my Beam Sword to block his punch, and he quickly ceased his attack.

"Don't _ever_ call me 'Ganny'," he growled very loudly at me with his fist raised and still covered in dark magic. I immediately got the message, even though the Gerudo didn't intimidate me with his massive frame or his demeanor or his expression.

"All right, fine! I'll just call you Ganondorf," I replied as I put the sword away, hoping to make amends with him as soon as possible. At the same time he lowered his fist and retracted his magic. "Anyway, let me cut to the chase. So we're all being threatened by an evil entity that's bigger than all of us, so we were wondering if you were interested in joining our little group and helping us defeat him. Yes, no, maybe?"

"And why would I, the King of Evil, do such a stupid thing as that?" he retorted. Damn, now I had to make up an excuse.

"Well, you obviously know what happened when Master Hand rejected you, right?" I remarked. He raised a single eyebrow. "Well, he and Crazy Hand were actually controlled by this guy named Tabuu, and he wants to destroy everything, regardless of anyone's alignment. Does that change your mind?" I extended a hand to further press the offer. Ganondorf said nothing, since he had to seriously consider the circumstances. He turned away to gather his thoughts, while at the same time he clenched his fist, allowing dark magic to envelop it. His facial features also scrunched as he expressed a desire for revenge.

"Fine, I will join you," he finally answered, shaking my hand. I expressed my satisfaction for his decision. "But mark my words, this alliance is only temporary."

"What? No way, I ain't working with that bastard!" Bowser interrupted as he came back, wondering why the rest of the group didn't follow him.

"Bowser? I didn't know you were here," Ganondorf commented. "Oh, I get it…you're still bitter because I—"

"Hold up, Bowser," I cut off the Gerudo's words, the latter of whom was very peeved by that. Bowser stopped in his tracks. "Maybe there is some kind of agreement that you two can reach. Besides, I think it's safe to say that Ganondorf saved you the trouble of being betrayed by Master Hand. Right?" I said that last word through my teeth, hinting that white lie to Ganondorf with a nudge to his muscular arm. It took a second for Ganondorf to realize what I meant, but he caught on, nonetheless.

"Fine, whatever," Bowser responded. "But this had better be worth it."

"Oh, trust me, the results of our efforts will be worth all the trouble," I assured. Once we settled that minor conflict, we continued our adventure, seeking out the rest of the Smashers. It felt good to know that we had two, maybe three, of the most unlikely characters join our group as allies, rather than enemies. I knew that accomplishing something like that would give us a better chance against Tabuu. Things were going to be different once we assembled the entire army to confront the Subspace Emissary.


	28. Chapter 28: Search and Destroy

Author's Notes: Good news and bad news! The good news is that I have a bit more free time since I dropped my Astronomy class (that means more chapter more frequently). The bad news is that I'm dangerously close to approaching writer's block. Yep...writer's block. So, you'll probably see another four chapters after this one before that occurs - at least, until I can think of how to write the conclusion to this exciting saga.

So, we're taking a break from the battle scenes for a moment to focus on an important part of the Subspace Emissary (with a few of my own variations, of course). If you'd rather have action, then I ask only for patience until the next chapter. However, if you enjoy more humor and character interactions, this chapter is for you. Enjoy! Oh by the way, there's a special surprise towards the end of the chapter for those of you that enjoy Melee. ;-)

Luigi: Captain Black Knight owns none of us, and she doesn't own Smash Bros. either. Thanks for listening!

* * *

Chapter 28: Search and Destroy

The ever-growing group marched on, seeking the remaining Smashers to be found. We eventually found some of the Smashers. Mr. Game and Watch, Red, Diddy Kong, and Yoshi were the first of the Smashers that were found, and they helped us discover the trophies of Meta Knight, Ike, the Ice Climbers, Lucas, and Falco. However, several more Smashers were yet to be found, and a task such as this was very challenging and tiresome. I would have rather been fighting Subspace enemies, but I along with my comrades had to take care of this setback first.

"Hey, I think I see another one!" Jess cried as she pointed at something in the distance. She rushed over to the trophy and touched its base. In a flash Pit reappeared.

"Wow, that was miserable," Pit muttered. "Thanks for finding me."

"No problem," Jess replied with a small grin. We told Pit of the situation, and so he helped us by taking off into the air in order to get a better view of the surroundings. He looked around over and over, but then he finally set his sights on something.

"Check it out!" he shouted, pointing north. "There are three more of them over there!" It took a bit of time to cover the distance between the spot to where Pit was pointing and us. When we got there, we found the trophies of Olimar, Captain Falcon, and R.O.B. We wasted no time in reviving them. Diddy Kong looked to his left and saw another trophy, so he cart wheeled over to it and touched its base. Donkey Kong reappeared in a flash, and they both gave each other high fives.

"Well, it seemed easy enough to find the majority of the Smashers, but something tells me it's going to be a lot more difficult to find the six that are still out there," Captain Falcon stated with a hand stroking his chin in thought.

"He makes a good point," Ike added. "This place is huge, and it will take a while to locate the rest of them. Besides that, our current method is slow enough as it is, and it may not be enough to get to them all. They could be anywhere!"

"Well, does anyone have any better ideas?" Falco inquired the group.

"Well, I would say to split up, but then we would have to start this search all over again," Red answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He's right," Meta Knight agreed. "We must stay together if we are to succeed in discovering the remaining Smashers. In order to make the process easier, Sir Pit and I can fly around and search from above. We should be able to get a wider range of sight from there." Pit nodded to confirm this suggestion.

"_I may also be of help_," Lucario added. "_I can utilize my powers to search for any still auras that are in the vicinity_."

"Hey, why don't we all just shut up and look for them already," Bowser snapped.

"We were getting to that…" I spoke in a low voice, clenching my teeth in the process. I shot a glare at Bowser, and he simple snorted in my general direction, not being intimidated in the slightest, yet not daring to start a fight. He saw how I blocked a punch from Ganondorf; why would he mess with me?

Anyway, so Pit and Meta Knight spread their wings and took to the dark skies, gaining enough air to get a bird's-eye view of the place. Pit flew around on our left side, while Meta Knight glided on our right side. Lucario's red eyes glinted yellow before he closed them and concentrated on the direction straight ahead of us. He raised both of his aura-covered paws and continued to focus as Pit and Meta Knight flew farther away from the group in order to search more of the ground. Lucario finished focusing, lowered his paws and opened his red eyes.

"_There are two still auras that lie in the distance directly ahead of us_," Lucario finally said. "_I do not know who they are or how far they are from us, but I do know that they are there_." Pleased with the information, I nodded and patted his shoulder. Five minutes later Pit and Meta Knight came back with news.

"I think I saw two of the six Smashers to the west," Pit stated.

"I have discovered two more Smashers as well," Meta Knight added. "They lie to the east." We could have easily set off to get the remaining trophies, but I was concerned by the fact that we could also lose our bearings and, as a result, lose track of the trophies that we would have recovered first. Keeping this in mind I gathered my thoughts and came up with a plan.

"Okay guys, here's what we'll do," I addressed the group. "Pit, take a few Smashers with you and go get the two trophies you found. Meta Knight, you do the same with a few more Smashers. Snake, Lucario, Bowser, Ganondorf, you four are coming with me. The rest of you need to stay here and wait for us to come back. Got that?" Everyone replied with some form of understanding, and they all did as they were told. Ganondorf and Bowser were, of course, reluctant, but I didn't give them much of a choice. Pit took off with Marth, Captain Falcon, Kayla, and Luigi, while Meta Knight took off with Kirby, Will, Peach, and Falco. Snake and Lucario obediently followed the two villains and me.

The distance we had to cover just to get to the trophies was a bit longer than I thought. Nonetheless, we eventually found exactly what we sought. Two gray trophies lied ahead of us, though it was a bit difficult to recognize the Smashers at first. As we approached, I had to squint just to identify them. When we did, I was astounded. The trophies were of Mario and Link!

Snake and I sprinted towards the Mario and Link trophies, while Lucario, Ganondorf and Bowser had to catch up to us. Snake wasted no time in touching the base of Mario's trophy; nor did I hesitate as I tapped the base of Link's trophy. Both heroes appeared in a flash, but when they regained their senses, they looked past us and saw Ganondorf and Bowser, both idly standing at the back of the group.

"GANONDORF!" "LINK!" "BOWSER!" "MARIO!" That was all I heard before all four of them charged at each other. I barely had any time to react, but I still attempted to stand between the two heroes and the two villains with my arms stretched outward.

"HOLD IT!" I shouted. Startled, they all skidded to a stop before the situation became worse. That, however, did not stop the four Smashers from scowling, growling, etc. at each other. Lucario and Snake did nothing but stand away from the tension, looking on in astonishment and awe.

"All of you, separate…now," I spoke in a very commanding voice with a super serious look on my face. All four of them obediently took a few steps back, away from the others and away from me. "Good, now…you will all listen to me, and I will make myself loud and clear." I received wide-eyed expressions from the four Smashers as none of them dared to speak. I even heard gulps from Mario and Link.

"Well, I'm sure that all of you realize by now that the one who calls himself Tabuu is a greater threat to all of us than we could ever be to each other, am I right? Well?" They all reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Exactly, and I think you four already know what I'm about to tell you, but I'll say it anyway. We have an entire army that can stand against Tabuu and defeat him, but we need everyone to contribute their strengths and their efforts if we are to do so. If we destroy each other, then there is no hope for the universe. So I'm telling you right now that as long as we are on this adventure together, you guys will _not_ cause a fight amongst yourselves." I specifically addressed Link and Ganondorf. "Link, Ganondorf, I don't care how long you two have been enemies, but your grudge will NOT be tolerated here! The same goes for you, Bowser and Mario! If I see anyone make even the slightest scene, I will kick all of your asses and put your heads on spears! Understood?"

By the time that I finished my rant, all four Smashers stood petrified and stared at me in shock. The most they could do was nod frantically. Snake and Lucario looked at them as if they felt sorry for them.

"Good," I finished, calming myself. "Now let's get back to the others." I turned to the direction from hence we came and started walking in that direction. Silently the others followed me. Mario and Link traveled next to me, while Snake and Lucario made sure to walk between them and the two villains who traveled behind the group. As we made our way back, I made sure to whisper to Link that my rant to him was nothing personal, and fortunately he understood that.

We finally got back to the group, and we saw that Kayla and friends had come back with Fox and Pikachu, while Will and his gang returned with Zelda and Samus. However, I also noticed another figure with them who wasn't originally part of the group. From what I could see he was rather stout and chubby.

"Wario? What's he doing here?" I inquired to no one in particular.

"Meta Knight 'persuaded' him to work with us," Peach replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah, by pointing a sword at my face," Wario spat. Meta Knight refused to put up with Wario's attitude, so he pointed Galaxia at the man's pink nose, and of course the fat man flinched.

"Watch your mouth and your attitude," Meta Knight demanded coolly.

"Ack! Alright, I will!" Wario responded with both hands raised. "Just stop pointing that thing at me!" Meta Knight complied and lowered his sword, yet he still glared at the fat man, who in turn gulped loudly.

"Hey, I think everyone is here!" Renee exclaimed, excited to have everyone together.

"Not quite everyone," Candace interjected. "Where is Wolf?"

"Candace, something tells me that he won't be back in time to help us," I answered in a discouraged tone.

"Bah, who needs him?" Snake spoke up. "We're all together, and we have new recruits. I think with our huge army, Tabuu won't stand a chance against us! Right?" Most of the Smashers cheered and raised their fists in motivation.

"I highly doubt that," a rumbling voice interrupted. The cheering immediately ceased, and everyone looked around for the source of the familiar voice. We all realized at that point that we ended up at the place where we first encountered Tabuu and the hands. As one would expect, Tabuu reappeared before the group, looking as intimidating as ever.

"You're just the one we're seeking," I spoke for the others.

"Is that so?" Tabuu replied. "I see that you have all survived my previous attack. I am not certain how you managed to do that, but I am impressed with your persistence. However, that will not help you escape your fate. You shall all die by my hand – perhaps even your own hands."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Link interrogated, speaking for all of us.

"Meet the bane of your existence," Tabuu answered in a menacing tone. He then motioned a hand, and suddenly several figures began to manifest from behind and below Tabuu. To our shock the figures had a striking resemblance to us – an entire army of Smasher clones was marching towards us!

"I couldn't create clones of you Earthlings, but no matter," Tabuu stated. "I brought back some loyal subjects to compensate for the imbalance in numbers, and because you stole a subject from me, I replaced one Pokémon with another." Tabuu motioned a hand again, and this time several large figures appeared behind the Smasher clones. We recognized them as the fallen bosses – minus Rayquaza, but there was one other being there that shocked us all. The Pokémon that stood before us was none other than…

"Mewtwo?!" I cried. Red and Lucario gasped at the sight of the psychic Pokémon facing us. "I thought Mewtwo disappeared long ago!"

"_Well, you thought wrong, human_," Mewtwo responded in disgust.

"_Why has Mewtwo returned all of a sudden?_" Lucario asked in confusion.

"I recruited Mewtwo in order to put his power to good use," Tabuu answered for Mewtwo. "He had been rejected by Master Hand, abandoned by him and sent away from this land. However, he has returned to serve me, and he now seeks vengeance against the Smashers."

"_He is correct_," Mewtwo added. "_You Earthlings stand in my way, so I shall deal with you first. Once I have annihilated you, I shall then take revenge on the Smashers once and for all!_"

"Not on my watch!" I yelled. "Snake, you need to summon Rayquaza now!" Snake took a second to remember that he still had the dragon Pokémon in his command. He then nodded and took out the Pokéball.

"GO, RAYQUAZA!" Snake shouted as he threw the Pokéball. In a flash the green dragon Pokémon flew out and roared at Mewtwo. The psychic Pokémon, however, barely flinched.

"_So, you have a Legendary Pokémon in your command_," Mewtwo observed. "_But that matters not; I will still obliterate you and the Smashers!_"

"Over my dead body!" I snapped.

"As you wish," Tabuu retorted. The Smashers and their clones all assumed fighting stances and brandished their weapons, and my friends and I did the same as they faced the bosses.

"CHARGE!" Tabuu and I both shouted. Both sides took the order and stampeded towards each other. The second battle of Subspace commenced.


	29. Chapter 29: Attack of the Clones

Author's Notes: And college work gets in the way again. Between a midterm and a big project, I had issues writing this chapter, but it's done.

So, who enjoyed the cliffhanger from last chapter??? XD I figured you all would...Anyway, another epic battle scene! Yay! Who doesn't love epic fights? Oh yeah, this is something I made up myself, especially the inclusion of Mewtwo into Tabuu's army - as you read from last chapter. So...enjoy! (c'mon, almost 5000 hits!)

Ganondorf: I can't believe I agreed to do the disclaimer...anyway, Captain Black Knight owns no Smash Brother, especially me...

* * *

Chapter 29: Attack of the Clones

Tabuu unleashed his army of clone Smashers and regenerated bosses as well as the über-powerful psychic Pokémon, Mewtwo. I sent in my own Smasher troops to counter the advancement of the clones, while my friends confronted the bosses. I asked Snake to let me borrow his Rayquaza, because he would be too focused on fighting the clones. At least if I commanded Rayquaza, we would have a better chance against Tabuu and his fighting force.

"_So, you think you can defy me?_" Mewtwo asked me coolly as I charged him.

"I can, and I will!" I answered loudly as I leaped up and swung the Beam Sword. Mewtwo easily blocked the strike and pushed me back, but I landed on my feet and took no damage. I thought to myself that this battle would not be as easy as the one against the hands. "Okay, so maybe you can deal with me, but can you counter both of us at once?" Mewtwo looked baffled about my question. I then issued Rayquaza a command, and the dragon flew towards the psychic.

Rayquaza flew into a spinning dive, hoping to hit Mewtwo from above. Mewtwo stopped the dragon inches from his face, his psychic powers saving him from an incredibly painful collision. Rayquaza fought back against the intangible barrier between it and Mewtwo, while Mewtwo equally pushed against the sheer power of the dragon with his mind. I took the opportunity to dash and leap towards Mewtwo, ready to strike.

Mewtwo's psychic powers proved to be stronger than Rayquaza's physical strength, and the psychic pushed the dragon away. As he left himself wide open, I took advantage of his brief distraction and swung my plasma blade at the Pokémon. The blade connected with his body, and Mewtwo fell back with a pained grunt as I landed on my feet. He quickly recuperated, but the slash mark remained on his torso.

"_I suppose you are better than I had expected_," Mewtwo admitted, clutching the wound. "_However, I am far from being defeated by the likes of you!_" Mewtwo charged a sphere of psychic energy between his hands, and he cast the energy sphere directly at me.

I quickly remembered how Link managed to reflect Ganondorf's energy spheres with his sword, so I decided to try that strategy myself. When the sphere came close to me, I struck the sphere with my sword. To my delight it worked. The sphere changed direction and rocketed towards the psychic. He was surprised but nowhere near unprepared. With a swing of his tail he struck the energy sphere and deflected it towards me again. The situation turned into a back-and-forth rally of tennis. Mewtwo and I both hit the sphere towards each other, neither of us giving way. After about ten hits the sphere finally hit the psychic Pokémon in the face. He grunted again in pain and slowly fell to the ground, losing control of his ability to remain in the air.

"I don't care how strong you are," I said, pleased with my successful feat. "You're still susceptible to your own power." Various battle sounds caught my attention, and I turned my head to see the others battling the enemies, not doing as well as I did. "Rayquaza, keep battling Mewtwo; I'll be back." The dragon did as told and charged at Mewtwo, the latter of whom rising from the ground. Both Pokémon clashed and battled each other as I got away.

I observed the conditions of my friends as they battle the bosses. Some of them fared better than the others, but the bosses seemed to have the upper hand.

Jim battled Ridley for the second time, shooting the purple dragon in the face with his Ray Gun. The space pirate retaliated by creating storm force winds with his giant beating wings. The winds slowly pushed Jim back, but he fought with all of his might to cut through them.

Candace took a second attempt at battling Galleom, but this time she knew what she was doing. She took advantage of the lack of speed the machine had by dodging his attacks and then striking back when he was vulnerable. Her laser shots proved to be effective against him when they hit him on his fists and between the eyes.

Kayla and Lex teamed up against Meta Ridley. Kayla's fans weren't very effective against the metallic armor, but they annoyed the hell out of the black and gold dragon, making a nice distraction for Lex. She fired the Super Scope at his wings, bringing him down to the ground, but Meta Ridley struck back with his tail, knocking both of them painfully down.

Renee fought against Petey Piranha by thrashing him to death with the plasma whip that she borrowed from Samus. Petey swung at Renee with two iron cages (for some reason he still had them), but she avoided them rather easily.

Will had no choice but to deal with Porky and his Spider Mech. He pounded the machine with his hammer, progressively damaging it with every strike. Porky, however, reacted with several high-speed swipes at Will. The sharp, mechanical legs grazed, cut, and scraped Will all over, but he used every ounce of effort to strike them away.

Kitty and Jess ganged up on Duon, both of them battling each half of the machine. Jess engaged in a sword fight with the blue half, using a pink version of the Beam Sword (mine was blue). Kitty and the pink half fired projectiles at each other. While Duon's explosives and lasers pushed Kitty back, her Star Rod proved decently powerful as the shooting stars pummeled the pink half.

I wasn't sure if I had to help my friends or not, and if I did, I wasn't sure whom to help first. I had quite the dilemma. Meanwhile the Smashers fought their own cloned selves, locked in equal struggles. For example, the fight between both Captain Falcons was going nowhere – they kept using the Falcon Punch at the same time, which always ended in a stalemate. Would they ever learn?

I looked to my right and saw Link skidding towards my leg. I turned to see another Link about to attack him, so I tackled the second Link, sending him to the ground.

"Brooke, what are you doing?" the Link in front of me asked in bewilderment. I took several steps back and looked at him in shock, thinking that I probably attacked the wrong Link.

"Wait a minute, what the hell are you saying?" The Link behind me interrogated the other as they both stood up. I turned to look at the other Link, still in shock.

"I'm saying that she attacked the wrong person! Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes, I do, because you're a liar! I'm not the clone; you are!"

"Says you, you carbon copy!" I kept looking back and forth at both Links as they kept up this stupid argument. At that point I was incredibly confused. Surprisingly I couldn't figure out which one was the real Link.

"Shut up! Both of you!" I yelled, annoyed by the incessant arguing. Both Links stopped and looked at me, each one appearing just as real as the other. I found that odd, because normally a clone of a Smasher would have a purple aura and glowing yellow eyes. This time, however, Tabuu's clones had the exact appearance of the real Smashers. Neither Link had a purple aura, and neither Link had glowing yellow eyes. They must have been improved versions of the Smasher clones. "Alright, which one of you is the fake?"

"He is!" Both Links answered simultaneously as they pointed to each other. I sweat-dropped as they stared at each other, but then one of the Links spoke up. "Brooke, listen to me. You have to destroy the imposter."

"He's right, but I'm not the one who's fake," the other Link interjected. "If you care about me, then you'll be able to see right through his tricks."

"Don't listen to him! He's only trying to fool you. He wants you to think he knows you, but he doesn't know you as well as I do."

_Wait…who knows me…that's it!_ I told myself. _I can just ask a question that only the real Link would know!_ I put my theory to the test, carefully choosing my question, and after accounting for anything that Tabuu or the fake Link would know, I narrowed my question down to one.

"Only one of you should know the answer to the question that I'm about to ask," I stated." Both Links looked at me without saying anything, but they nodded in confirmation anyway. "So my question is this: what is the exact date and time that's written in my notepad?" Neither swordsman said anything for a moment, but then I got my answer:

"October 24, 11:22pm," both Links said.

"God freakin' damnit!" I yelled in frustration. _Tabuu must have been spying on me this entire time! That, or he read my mind at the last second._ I clearly didn't like the answer that I got, since only one Link was supposed to know that. I looked from one Link to the other, trying to find another solution.

"_Hey, Brooke_," I heard. I turned to the source of the voice and saw Lucario near me, battling his own clone. "_The clone is the one on your left._" I turned back to the Links, and I inspected both of their faces closely. When I saw the Link to my left flinch, I got my answer.

_Thanks, Lucario, _I replied telepathically. I then whipped out the Beam Sword and thrust the plasma blade into the chest of the Link to my left. He grunted in pain before he dissolved into purple Shadow Bugs and disappeared. The real Link exhaled in relief, delighted with my success.

"Wow, how did you manage to find the clone?" Link asked me.

"I got some help from Lucario," I admitted. "That…and the real Link wouldn't flinch at the sight of such a pretty face as mine. He was a dead giveaway after that." Link let a small chuckle escape his mouth. He then looked around and observed the progress of the other Smashers. They were battling pretty well but not without some incredible difficulty. Fighters with projectile attacks were running out of ammo, and head-to-head combat made battles severely painful.

"Should we help the other Smashers?" I asked Link.

"I think your friends need more help than the Smashers," he answered grimly. I turned around to see my friends not faring so well.

"You're right. Let's lend them a few hands," I replied as I rushed to their aid. Link followed close behind me, bearing his sword and shield for whatever might strike.

I rushed to the scene of the boss battles in time to see Petey Piranha explode as he did the first time. Renee caught her breath and grinned in satisfaction with her work. Link and I went up to her first.

"Nice work, Renee," I complimented. She just beamed again. "You think you can take on another boss?"

"Why, who needs help?" Renee inquired innocently. I surveyed the current situation, only to have my attention caught on the battle between Candace and Galleom. Galleom had just slammed his fist into Candace. Her Blasters didn't do much good in stopping the attack, and as a result she was sent flying a good twenty feet.

"Eh, I suggest helping Candace at the moment," I answered with a sweat drop. "She is the accident-prone one, after all." However, before Renee could dash to the rescue, our attention was turned to the Will-Porky battle that just ended with Porky disintegrating into purple spores. He wasted no time in finding another foe to face, and so he offered assistance to Candace instead. "Okay, never mind that. Um…go help Jim. He could use a hand." She nodded and took off to assist Jim in his fight against Ridley.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Link inquired. Just as he spoke two particular Pokémon caught our eyes. Since I last left them, Rayquaza and Mewtwo were still fighting head-to-head, and neither Pokémon seemed to be giving way to the other, until Mewtwo seized the opportunity to mentally grab Rayquaza in mid-dive and hurl it into the ground face-first. Rayquaza appeared to be critically damaged at that point, so Mewtwo charged a psychic energy ball between his hands, aiming to finish off the dragon.

"Damnit…RAYQUAZA, RETURN!" I shouted as I brought Rayquaza back into its Pokéball just before Mewtwo's attack could hit its target. The psychic looked at me sternly before speaking.

"_So, you have returned to finish our battle?_" he asked coolly.

"Yeah, what's that to you?" I retorted. He simply scoffed.

"_Well, it seems that this war between your allies and Tabuu's army is about to end. Take a look around if you don't believe me._" As much as Link and I didn't want to listen to him, we were nonetheless curious and concerned about the status of the war. To our surprise, the psychic Pokémon hadn't lied to us this time. More than half of the Smasher clones were already defeated, and three of the bosses – Petey Piranha, Porky, and now Meta Ridley – were slain by the hands of my friends. "_Why don't we follow their examples and end this once and for all?_"

"I like that idea," Link answered for me. "Bring it!" He and I both assumed fighting stances with our swords.

"_Two against one seems a bit unfair, now doesn't it?_" Mewtwo stated with a criticizing look on his face. "_That matters not, however. I still have enough power to take you both down!_"

"That's what you think!" I yelled as I charged towards Mewtwo, the latter of whom teleported away from my sudden charge, only to reappear right in the way of one of Link's thrown bombs. The bomb exploded in Mewtwo's face and temporarily blinded him, giving me enough time to strike him with a sword slash, and I did so across his back. The Pokémon wailed in pain before he teleported again. He reappeared away from both of us and started panting lightly.

"I guess all of that battling is finally taking its toll on you, isn't it, Mewtwo?" I said to him. Mewtwo simply glared at me.

"_Lies!_" he snapped as he raised a hand. He used his psychic abilities to render me immobile in a blue barrier of telekinetic energy. I struggled to break free from his mental power, but to no avail. He lifted me into the air and threw me right into Link, knocking us both back and to the ground.

"You'll wish you didn't do that!" Link yelled as he stood up. He ran and jumped towards Mewtwo and brought his sword down from above his head, only to have the blade blocked by more of the psychic's abilities. Both the swordsman and the Pokémon struggled against each other, hoping to push the opponent back. Since Mewtwo was distracted momentarily, I swooped in and kicked Mewtwo's legs out from under him, causing him to fall on his back. Having the upper hand, Link wrapped the Clawshot around the psychic and bound him in place.

"NOW!" Link shouted. I aimed the Beam Sword perfectly at the Pokémon's chest and stabbed him in the heart, if he had one. Again Mewtwo cried out in agony before he too disintegrated into purple spores. For a split second I felt somewhat sorry for the Pokémon, but it had to be done for the sake of the universe.

"Phew, we did it," I muttered as I caught my breath. I then turned my attention to the Smashers who still had a few clones to take down. It wasn't anything they couldn't handle, though. Snake, Lucario, Captain Falcon, Samus, Zelda and Meta Knight were still dealing with their copycats, while a few others helped to distract the carbon copies.

"FALCON PAUWNCH!" Both Falcons shouted, but the original was quicker, so his punch hit the other Falcon square in the face, and the clone disintegrated instantly. Samus and Lucario shots energy spheres at their clones and eradicated them. It took a bit longer for Zelda and Meta Knight to defeat their foes, but Meta Knight eventually slashed through his clone's mask, while Zelda burned the fake princess to death with Din's Fire. Snake planted explosive after explosive onto his doppelganger and allowed all of them to detonate at once. The last of the Smasher clones disappeared.

"That only took, eh…way too long," Luigi muttered as the fairly bruised and battered plumber approached the congregation of fighters.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet, Luigi," Snake suggested. "Take a look." He pointed a finger towards the battles between my friends and the remaining bosses as they raged on. Snake, however, stood corrected a moment later when the last of the bosses was vanquished. "Oh…my bad…" Zelda giggled at Snake's minor error.

The entire group would have started celebrating if it wasn't for the fact that we still had one more problem to resolve: Tabuu had to be defeated, and he had to be defeated now.


	30. Chapter 30: The Final Destination

Author's Notes: I. Hate. Schoolwork. -shoots it with a bazooka- Wow, I really apologize for the long wait. I would've posted this sooner if November didn't turn out to be the busiest month of the semester. x.x Fortunately, I'm on fall break this week, so I have free time to work on the fic. Also, since it's Thanksgiving tomorrow, I'll give you guys another chapter to read before you stuff yourselves with food. So...

Ah, the moment of truth is here. The final battle awaits our heroes. Trust me, this chapter is full of action, so you won't get bored easily. Oh, and there are certain elements to this chapter/battle that are also of my own imagination, so you'll find it difficult to predict the outcome. Enjoy!

Ganondorf: Captain Black Knight owns no part of SSBB, especially not me! -crosses arms and pouts-

* * *

Chapter 30: The Final Destination

After being out of the picture for the duration of the clone war, Tabuu reappeared and mockingly clapped his hands, letting himself chuckle at the apparent amusement that the Smashers brought him. Everyone around tensed as he floated a bit towards the group.

"Congratulations to you all for surviving this long," he spoke with slight sarcasm. "You managed to defeat both hands, my Smasher clones, and the revived bosses, not to mention my Subspace Army. Your winning streak, however, ends here, tonight. This…is your Final Destination!" Without warning Tabuu teleported around, flashing in and out of view as he constantly relocated around the Smashers. The world began to spin, and some Smashers became dizzy as the scenery rapidly changed. Soon the coalition found itself on a rather large floating platform suspended in Subspace. The platform was completely flat, and the edges of the stage led off into the dark abyss. Matter of fact…the stage had quite the resemblance to Final Destination…oh, that explains the pun.

"What just happened? Where are we? Where did Tabuu go?" Various Smashers shot question after question to the group, and of course none of them received answers. Silently they knew what was coming to them. Tabuu then reappeared in the background of the stage. His body was curled up into a ball.

"I think it's about time you all die!" Tabuu yelled as his large rainbow butterfly wings appeared and unfurled. He gathered energy into his wings and prepared to unleash more Off-Waves. The Smashers knew that they could do nothing to stop the imminent sheer force of the waves. They braced themselves as Tabuu spoke again. "And this time, stay d—" But he never finished his sentence. At that second a small aircraft flew in from behind Tabuu and dove into Tabuu's left wing. It then made a sharp U-turn and rammed into his right wing. Both wings shattered upon impact, and the pieces of the wings disintegrated.

The aircraft flew towards the Smashers. The cockpit opened up and ejected its pilot. As the aircraft departed, the pilot made a few midair flips before he landed on his feet and crouched. As impressed as the Smashers were by the pilot's skydiving skills, they were also incredibly surprised and confused by his spontaneous entrance. Of course, some of them immediately recognized him. After all, the space outfit, the strange 'eyepatch' and the gray fur made his identity a dead giveaway.

"Wolf?!" I cried. Candace stared at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, while Fox and Falco simply glared at him. Wolf shot back glares at Fox and Falco before he gave the rest of the group a rather welcoming smirk.

"Did you miss me?" he said jokingly. "Don't tell me you forgot about little old me."

"Hell no!" Candace blurted. "Matter of fact, you arrived just in time. We would have been royally screwed if you didn't show up and do what you did." That comment just reminded us that we still had to deal with Tabuu, who growled loudly and curled his fists. Did I mention he was pissed?

"HOW DARE YOU DESTROY MY WINGS, YOU FOUL CREATURE?" Tabuu shouted furiously. "You will all feel the wrath of Tabuu, and especially you, you animal!" Yeah…Tabuu was definitely not happy with Wolf's actions.

Tabuu teleported to the opposite end of the incredibly large platform that was redesigned to fit the Subspace scenery. The coalition of now forty-one fighters faced Tabuu, and each fighter assumed a battle stance, ready to begin what they knew would be the final battle of Subspace.

"So, are you all ready for this ultimate battle?" I asked. Everyone who heard me nodded, and the weapon wielders brandished their weapons of choice.

Both sides stared each other down, waiting for someone to make the first strike. Assuming that everyone was ready to battle, Tabuu took the honor of going first.

Tabuu started the battle by turning his one arm into a pink blade, and he then swooped into the Smashers. Most of them dove out of the way in time, but a few of the slower Smashers like King Dedede and Donkey Kong were grazed. Fortunately their heavy weight prevented them from being completely thrown off the edge, and they managed to recover with little difficulty. That was nothing, however. The battle had only begun.

"ATTACK!" I shouted. At once the Smashers and my friends charged towards Tabuu after he returned to his starting position. The fighters who had projectiles stayed back and chose to attack from a distance, however. Lasers, arrows, missiles, fireballs, etc. were hurled and shot at Tabuu. Each projectile by itself did little damage, but it was accumulating quickly.

The second that the charging Smashers were in reach Tabuu teleported before any of their attacks could connect. He teleported to a different spot one right after another, preventing the Smashers from landing a hit on him. Anyone who became caught in his range of teleportation suffered some damage from the small clouds of energy that he left behind. Kirby and Diddy Kong had some burns, but they were otherwise fine.

This was where the real problem arose. Tabuu prepared another attack, and this time he whipped out a bladed disc and threw it in the general direction of the fighters. The disc had missed everybody – everybody except Wario and Yoshi, that is. Both of them were knocked back so far that they flew over the edge and right through the boundaries of Subspace. With a flash of blue and purple they were gone.

Those who managed to dodge the disc gasped at the disappearance of the two victims, but almost all of them had forgotten that the disc acted like a boomerang. They didn't pay attention to it as it was coming back their way. The most oblivious fighters paid the price as the bladed disc flew back towards them. It hit Olimar and the Ice Climbers and sent them flying towards the same fate that Wario and Yoshi had suffered. With another flash they too were gone.

"Where did they go?" Kitty asked. "They just disappeared through that wall, but where did they end up?"

"They breached the boundaries of Subspace, but I don't think they escaped," Kayla answered. "I think they're stuck in between Subspace and the outside world somewhere."

"She's probably right," I added. "That means that the rest of us must avoid being eliminated at all costs. It also means that no one can escape until Tabuu is defeated. Make sense?" They nodded.

By this time the disc had returned to Tabuu's hand and vanished, and the entity himself was resting in one spot. Of course, the fighters once again charged at him and attacked at every chance they had. Meta Knight dove from above Tabuu and managed to slash him, while Ganondorf kicked him from below. Tabuu had taken considerable damage, but he retaliated by flailing his arms at them. Meta Knight avoided the arms, but Ganondorf was knocked away as he skidded across the floor, coming to a stop at the edge.

"Die, traitor," Tabuu muttered as he point a finger. Ganondorf didn't understand what he was doing, but King Dedede sure did. He tried to get to Ganondorf as quickly as possible, but his large physique hindered his movement. He thought Ganondorf was doomed, until…

A few twinkling lights appeared, and BAM! A blast of black and pink energy shot towards Ganondorf, but it didn't reach its target. Instead the energy blast hit Fox and Falco, both of whom had their Reflectors activated. It was enough to stop the energy blast, but both Reflectors also shattered in the process and left them with recoil damage.

"Gee thanks," Ganondorf muttered. Fox and Falco simply nodded after enduring that attack. Tabuu, however, was not amused. Out of pure frustration he kicked his foot at Falco and sent him flying while he swung a fist at Fox, knocking him off the edge as well. Instantly they vanished into the boundaries of Subspace.

"Damn, now they're gone, too," Will commented after getting Ganondorf back on his feet. Tabuu had returned to a resting position on the other side of the platform, and anyone who was near him immediately took their chance to strike. Link and Pit shot a barrage of arrows at him while Captain Falcon landed a midair knee strike to his stomach. Tabuu clutched his stomach momentarily, indicating that the knee strike damaged him significantly.

"I'm far from done with you," Tabuu articulated. Tabuu vanished from the platform and reappeared in the background away from the flat battlefield. To our dismay the same pair of rainbow butterfly wings manifested on his back. Fortunately, they were only the remains from Wolf's sneak attack. We knew that he was attempting to unleash yet another set of Off-Waves, and despite my assumption that the waves would be considerably weakened, I didn't want to take the chance, and neither did the others.

"DUCK!" I shouted as I hit the floor. The others followed suit and covered their heads as Tabuu unleashed the Off-Waves. The waves missed most of us, but there were some unfortunate Smashers that were just too big to duck from the waves, namely Bowser, Donkey Kong and King Dedede. The waves hit them and instantly sent them flying through the Subspace boundary. Apparently the waves weren't as weakened as I thought they would be.

"Wow, we keep losing more fighters every time he attacks," Jess mentioned. "How long is he going to keep this up? At this rate, we'll never defeat him."

"Just keep thinking optimistically, Jess," Renee interjected. "We'll beat him if we just keep up the fight. Never give up, never surrender."

"That's the spirit, Renee," I said as Tabuu returned to the platform with no wings. We moved in to attack, and so did Link and Zelda. Zelda used Din's Fire on Tabuu from a distance while we attacked him head on with swords and baseball bats. Again the damage was accumulating, but Tabuu refused to show it.

The battle raged on in this pattern. Tabuu would attack, and then we would attack. He whipped out a golden chain whip and used it to grab Luigi, Ness and Lucas and then throw them out of bounds. The Pokémon were faring better, though. Surf, Razor Leaf, Thunder, Flamethrower and Aura Sphere combined further damaged the blue entity, but he countered with a barrage of needles similar to those that Sheik would often throw, and with a finishing fireball Squirtle and Ivysaur were sent to their doom. Red was nearly in a state of panic, but Charizard kept him going.

The fighters charged at him again, trying to strike him from all sides, but Tabuu was smarter than that. He put up an energy shield that also struck those who neared him with strange black electricity. The fighters who came too close were knocked back, but only Mr. Game and Watch flew beyond the edge and into the wall, due to his light weight and the accumulated damage.

The fighters tried again, but Tabuu decided not to let them have a chance to attack. Instead he multiplied and sent the sheer force of his carbon copies in all directions to cover the entire battlefield. Everyone was grazed with light damage except for Wolf and Lucario, who used the Reflector and Double Team respectively to deflect the copies. This time no one but Kirby was eliminated.

Tabuu let a small chuckle escape from his mouth. I couldn't tell if he was impressed by our resilience or if he was planning something horrible. Regardless he remained on the offensive. Two golden brackets appeared, and they floated at a surprisingly fast pace towards us. The brackets caught Diddy Kong and R.O.B. and crushed them before slamming them to the floor. They ricocheted and bounded towards the wall with a dark flash.

Tabuu kept up the assault as he then grew giant and drifted off to the side of the platform. Suddenly he fired two pink laser beams from his eyes (or at least, that's what I think they are…eyes) and directed them across the floor. It took a bit of effort to dodge the laser beams, but most of us did. Charizard, Red and Ganondorf, however, were not so lucky. The laser beams struck them and, because of their overall damage, sent them rocketing into the boundary. They were also gone in a flash.

"No, not Red, too!" Lex cried in distress. Candace and Kitty, however, ignored her as they shot projectiles at Tabuu. Again Tabuu refused to make the damage evident, so he transformed into what looked like a giant spearhead-fish-thing. He set his sights on the two princesses and shot like a torpedo towards them. However, being the chivalrous men they were (apparently), Snake and Captain Falcon got in the way of the incoming spearhead fish after moving Peach and Zelda away. They too suffered the fates of the other victims and disappeared into the Subspace boundary.

"Snake! Damnit Snake, come back!" I yelled, trying to deny the fact that he too was defeated. Okay, now I was pissed. This being had taken far more damage than any of the bosses _combined_, and he is still fighting. How is that possible? Tabuu didn't leave me much time to ponder on that, since he teleported from place to place, even after Smashers were trying to hit him.

He reappeared behind Peach and clawed at her many times, tearing her dress and her skin in the process. With a backhand he sent Peach flying into the distance. Marth and Meta Knight attempted to retaliate by charging at Tabuu at high speeds, but the sword slashes only did so much. He decided to try the diving attack again, so he turned his arm into a pink blade and dove at the two swordsmen. Failing to avoid the dive, they instantly vanished before Tabuu came back to a resting position.

"Oh no, he got Marth and Meta Knight as well!" Kayla cried. She didn't look too happy about that, and neither was I, matter of fact. Why would we? Tabuu had wiped out most of our army one fighter at a time, and we had almost run out of options.

"So do you think you can defeat me now?" Tabuu inquired with a chuckle. "You Earthlings are nothing more than a mere obstacle in my path for universal domination, and there are only nine Smashers left. I suppose they could go down in a blaze of glory if each of them dies protecting all of you." Tabuu was right: there were only nine Smashers left, one for each of us. Link, Zelda, Wolf, Pit, Ike, Pikachu, Lucario, Samus and Mario all assumed defensive stances in front of each of us, indicating that they had no intention of letting us fall at the hands of the Subspace Emissary. "I should tell you that I saved the best for last. I still have one more attack that I can use, and its devastation capability is far beyond your comprehension!"

Oh great, another catastrophic attack that Tabuu decided to use against us towards the end of the battle right while we're exhausted and nearly about to lose anyway. Well, whatever it was, we were going to find out quite soon just how devastating it was.


	31. Chapter 31: Struggle and Sacrifice

Author's Notes: Wow, I suck at updating quickly. I mentioned last time that I would update quicker, but I guess that went out the window. Sorry about that. The reasons I took so long with this chapter are: 1) finishing the college semester - FINALLY! 2) work; 3) Christmas shopping .; and 4) working on another fic simultaneously. However, there is good news: I'm posting this chapter as a Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanza, etc.) present to you before I leave for Toledo and become unable to access the Internet for the next week. Hooray for timing!

So, last chapter was pretty exciting with the first part of the boss battle. Here's the second part - but it doesn't end here, oh no. There's plenty more to go before our heroes are done here. I apologize if any part of this chapter seems depressing, mushy, cheesy, or cliche in any way. I couldn't think of any other way to write this part. Also, this chapter seems to focus more on dialogue than action. Regardless, I think you'll enjoy this one, as it serves as a nice transition into the chapter with the final part of the battle. With that said, enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! ^-^

P.S. Internet cookies to anyone who can spot the movie reference! XD

Tabuu: Captain Black Knight does not and shall not own anything of SSBB. Oh, and I'm evil. -chuckle-

* * *

Chapter 31: Struggle and Sacrifice

The battle had reached its climax, but it seemed more like our demise. All except nine of the Smashers had been defeated and sent to a void between Subspace and the outside world, and we had no idea if we would even see them again. Those who were left – Link, Zelda, Wolf, Pit, Ike, Lucario, Pikachu, Samus, and Mario – made it their goal to defend my friends and me from suffering the same fate as the others. Tabuu, of course, made it his goal to do otherwise.

"Pay close attention, for you're about to lay your eyes on my final attack…and the bane of your existence," Tabuu said as he raised his arms and began to concentrate. Low murmurs arose among the remaining Smashers with questions as to what he would do next. Their questions were answered as suddenly a gigantic, almost ethereal version of the Dark Cannon manifested itself. Gasps erupted from everyone on the platform as Tabuu aimed it at us. Fear began to spread among us, as there was no chance of escape. We were trapped at the edge of the platform, staring into the barrel of a cannon that would obliterate us.

"So, who should feel the power of my Dark Cannon first?" he thought aloud. "I think I'll go for Jim first." He aimed the Dark Cannon at Jim and charged it. Jim had almost no time to react before Tabuu fired. Instead of a black arrow the cannon fired a huge white laser that had a radius equal to that of Samus' Zero Laser. Speaking of which…

"Activate Zero Laser!" Samus yelled as she stood in front of Jim and unleashed her ultimate attack from her arm cannon. The Zero Laser and Tabuu's laser shot directly into each other and stopped from the impact and the force of each laser. Tabuu pushed the Zero Laser back, while Samus pushed the Dark Cannon laser back with equal effort. Both lasers ceased, and everyone stared. The Zero Laser worked but only at the cost of Samus' Varia Suit falling apart. Samus was left kneeling in her Zero Suit.

"Samus, are you all right?" Jim asked as he approached her. "How did you do that?" Samus lightly pushed Jim away from herself before she spoke.

"I grabbed a Smash Ball…when Tabuu wasn't looking," Samus answered as she breathed heavily. As she caught her breath, Tabuu somehow used telekinetic powers to pick up the Varia Suit pieces and bring them towards himself. Samus couldn't even react to that before he chucked every single piece at her with full strength. The combined strength of the thrown suit pieces and the overall damage Samus had racked up on herself caused her to go flying right into the Subspace boundary.

"SAMUS!" Jim cried before he shook a fist at Tabuu. "You won't get away with that!"

"Are you sure?" Tabuu retorted. "You're lucky that Samus even stopped my attack, but this time I won't miss." He charged the laser and aimed it at Lex this time. Lucario jumped a few feet in front of her and charged up an Aura Sphere.

_I've never done this before, but I hope this works_, Lucario told himself. He was going to try something different in order to stop the laser. Tabuu fired the Dark Cannon and Lucario unleashed the biggest Aura Sphere he had ever created. It was twice the size of Bowser, and it was headed right towards the laser. Lucario didn't expect it to work, but it did—except it didn't work the way he thought it would. The Aura Sphere stopped the laser, but that only lasted for a few seconds. Instead the laser split into two lasers and bypassed the Aura Sphere. The lasers went past Lucario and towards Will and Kitty. However, Mario and Pikachu acted fast to knock them out of the way, and the plumber and the Pokémon endured the blasts instead. They screeched and shouted in pain as the laser seared their bodies and sent them into oblivion. They passed through the boundary with a dark flash.

"MARIO! PIKACHU!" Will and Kitty yelled. Lucario looked at the small group with a horrified expression.

"_I am so sorry_," he spoke with a shaky voice. "_I had no idea that the Aura Sphere would cause that to happen. Please forgive me._"

"It's okay, Lucario," Lex interjected. "It's not your fault that happened. You tried to help us, and that's all that matters."

"Lucario, I suggest you turn around," Jess said as she pointed her finger past the Aura Pokémon. Lucario turned and, to his and everyone else's horror, saw Tabuu holding the giant Aura Sphere between his hands.

"Did you forget about this?" Tabuu asked in a mocking tone. Lucario forgot that the Aura Sphere hadn't dissipated. He also forgot about the fact that the Aura Sphere was so powerful due to the total damage that he racked up. He knew what was coming next, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Tabuu chucked the Aura Sphere at Lucario at blinding speed. The Aura Sphere blasted Lucario into the boundary with another dark flash. The blue Pokémon had been defeated.

"NO! LUCARIO!" Lex cried. It wouldn't help, though. He wasn't coming back anytime soon.

"You all keep trying to stop my omnipotent attacks, but that will only help you so much," Tabuu said to us. "Third time is the charm." He aimed the Dark Cannon again, this time at Renee and Candace. He charged the cannon, expecting to hit his target this time, but Wolf wouldn't have it.

"Zelda, come over here and help me reflect the laser!" Wolf said to the princess. Realizing what Wolf was trying to do, she walked over to him and prepared to stop the laser with his help.

"Wolf, Zelda, what are you doing?" Candace inquired incredulously. "You're both going to get killed!"

"Not if we do this!" Wolf answered with a smirk. Just as Tabuu fired the Dark Cannon, Wolf activated his Reflector, while Zelda expended the last of her magic to use Nayru's Love. Both defense mechanisms stopped the white laser and shielded the group – Candace and Renee in particular – from the full force of energy.

"Yes, it's working!" Renee cried with delight.

"That's what you think!" Tabuu interrupted. He increased the strength of the laser, causing Wolf and Zelda to become exhausted. The laser stopped, but the resulting shockwaves sent the pilot and the princess into oblivion. All that remained were the echoes of their cries, the shattered pieces of the Reflector and a few blue crystals from Nayru's Love.

"Crap, now Wolf and Zelda are gone!" Candace snapped.

"NO! Someone bring them back right now!" Renee cried.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," I finally spoke up. "All we can do now is make sure that we survive and defeat him."

"Six Smashers down and three left," Tabuu muttered. "So who wants to die next?"

"We're not going to let you get away with this!" Kayla yelled as she stepped forward in front of the group, bearing her twin fans in an offensive manner. Most of us gawked at her with mixed expressions of concern and disbelief, wondering how she believed that two measly fans would work against a giant laser.

"Tell that to my Dark Cannon!" Tabuu responded as he charged and fired the Dark Cannon right at Kayla.

"Kayla, look out!" Pit shouted as he pushed her out of the way of the oncoming laser. It went past Kayla and right into Pit, who endured the hit but screamed in agony. Kayla could do nothing but look on in shock as the angel suffered to help her. Pit was also blasted away, and he too disappeared in a dark flash.

"Not Pit too!" Kayla cried before she turned to Tabuu. "Would you stop destroying our friends?"

"That is not an option, I'm afraid," Tabuu answered coolly. "So the only defense you have left consists of two meager swordsmen. Please tell me that none of you believe they can help you at this point." As the emissary chuckled, Link and Ike both formed defensive positions next each other and in front of the group.

"You'll get no sympathy from me!" Ike called out his trademark phrase, bearing Ragnell with one hand.

"There's no way that we'll let you destroy them," Link snapped, bearing the Master Sword in one hand and the Hylian Shield in the other hand. "If you want them, you'll have to go through us first!"

"Well, if you insist, then so I shall," Tabuu enunciated. He raised both hands towards the swordsmen and then clenched them. Instantly a turquoise aura surrounded both of them, and they became immobile. Tabuu lifted both hands up and outward, telekinetically moving each of the swordsmen out of the way – Link with his left hand and Ike with his right hand. Both swordsmen struggled as hard as they could to break free of this unforeseen hex.

"What the hell is going on?" Jess interrogated with a distraught look on her face. She was clearly not happy with what Tabuu was doing.

"Put them down right now!" I demanded.

"Oh, now? But I'm having so much fun," Tabuu whined sarcastically. "I'll put them down when I'm done putting you all to your death…and I think I'll aim for Jess next." Without even using his arms he redirected the Dark Cannon at Jess and began to charge it. Jess knew she couldn't run from the laser, so she just braced for impact. That's when Ike struggled hard enough and broke free from Tabuu's grasp. At the same time Tabuu fired the cannon, despite his shock that Ike managed to break free of his spell. While he was still holding Link, Tabuu watched to make sure that the laser would indeed hit Jess. That didn't happen, though, since Ike dashed towards her and stopped directly in front of the laser a few feet in front of her. He tried to use Ragnell as a sort of shield to stop the laser and alleviate some of the sheer force that was hitting him.

"Come on, Ike, you can do it!" Jess cheered for the Beorc as he pushed the laser back.

"I…fight for…my friends!" Ike yelled over the deafening laser. Tabuu, of course, refused to let Ike have his day, so he again strengthened the laser and pushed Ike back to the point where his steel-toed boots skidded across the floor. Ike unfortunately couldn't keep up the resistance any longer, and the full force of the laser shot him off the edge into the void.

"COME BACK, IKE!" Jess called after him. By the time Tabuu finished yet another attempt at destroying us, Link had broken free of Tabuu's spell and returned to what was left of the group. Out of all the Smashers he was the sole survivor and our last line of defense.

"Well, it seems that some of the Smashers have proven their infinite devotion to your friends," Tabuu remarked. "Let's see if the Hylian hero will do the same for you…Brooke." With that said Tabuu directed the Dark Cannon once again, and this time I was his target. As he charged the cannon, I stepped forward in front of the group with arms outstretched.

"I'm sick of seeing you destroy my friends, Tabuu!" I yelled at him. "Just destroy me and leave them alone!" It seemed the others couldn't believe what I had just said.

"As you wish," Tabuu replied with a wicked cackle. He fired the Dark Cannon, and the white laser shot towards me in a flash.

Link, however, wouldn't have it. He dashed towards me and shoved me out of the way of the laser, and he endured the force of the laser instead. As I raised myself from the floor to rest on all fours, I watched the scene unfold before my wide, horrified eyes.

Time seemed to slow down dramatically, and bittersweet memories flooded back into my mind as this scene practically replayed itself (the encounter between Bowser, Link and myself). Link had done the same thing for me earlier in our adventure. Despite the fact that I was the intended target, Link refused to see me suffer and instead took the hit for me. Now that Link was doing this for the second time, multiple emotions boiled within me, many of them I couldn't even describe.

"Please, Brooke…save the others!" Link shouted to me, even as the agonizing pain of the laser seared him. "Do it for me!" As his anguished scream rung in my ears, he made a huge effort to reach his left hand out to me. Something on his hand caught my attention, though. The symbol of the legendary Triforce lit up brightly and seemed to pulsate. I quickly got up and reached out to grab his hand, but just as I did, the laser stopped. Link's hand slipped through mine, and the shockwaves of the laser launched Link into the boundary of Subspace.

"LIIIIIINK!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I collapsed to my knees as my eyes stared at the point where Link passed through the wall and my ears rung with the echoes of Link's final scream of pain. The hand that I used to grab his hand still reached out to him in vain.

"Whoa, Brooke, are you all right?" Renee asked me as she and the others briskly but carefully approached me. Renee in particular could see tears begin to well up in my eyes. My throat began to swell as I clenched my teeth and my hands. Yeah…I don't think I was all right at that point. Would you be all right if you just lost your new best friend? I didn't think so.

_Hmm, that takes care of the Smashers_, Tabuu thought with his arms folded as the Dark Cannon dissolved. _Now those Earthlings are left, and it seems they have suffered a lot at this point. I think I'll let them mourn for their loss before I annihilate them._

"Relax, Brooke," Kayla spoke. "I'm pretty sure that Link and the others will come back."

"We don't even know that, Kayla," I replied as I failed miserably to hold back tears. "They're gone, and the only thing we can do now is defeat Tabuu."

"Someone here is a bit more optimistic than expected," Will commented in jest. Jess couldn't help but elbow him in the side for that remark. Candace then spoke up.

"Well, if that's what we have to do, then that's what we'll…hey, what happened to your hand?" My ears perked up at that question. I immediately look at the hand in question, and what I saw took me by surprise: my right hand was glowing with a golden aura, as if I had just spilled a radioactive chemical on my hand.

_What the hell? How did this happen?_ I asked myself as I stared at my hand. The answer – more like a theory – came to me right away. This was the same hand that managed to grab Link's hand for a split second. Before his hand slipped, he must have transferred some of his Triforce power to me in order to give me some kind of boost that would help me defeat Tabuu. I should have figured that Link would do anything to help.

"Are you quite done grieving for your friends?" Tabuu asked as he rudely interrupted my thoughts. We all stood up and faced him with expressions of anger and frustration. Tabuu simply folded his arms and sat on an imaginary chair in midair. "I'd be willing to spare your lives if you're willing to surrender to me and pledge your eternal loyalty to me. Accept me as your master, and I'll save you from the horrid fate that the Smashers suffered. Matter of fact, I might even bring them back. All you have to do is submit to me." A few low murmurs erupted among my friends as they contemplated the idea of doing such a thing, the idea that perhaps this being would in fact spare us and bring our friends back to us in exchange. A few others remained silent on the matter, not sure of what to think. As for Renee and I…well, we refused to believe it.

"He must be lying," Renee whispered to me. "Remember what King Dedede said? Tabuu doesn't want servants with wills of their own." She was right. If that was the case, then Tabuu was flat out lying to our faces. Besides, I refused to yield to this entity. It's like I always told myself: 'Never give up, never surrender.'


	32. Chapter 32: The Downfall of the SE

Author's Notes: Alright! My first chapter for the new year! So, this will be the last chapter I post before the new semester starts. But worry not! I will still work on finishing this fic between all of my college assignments. It'll probably just take longer.

Whoa, over 6000 hits? Wow, you guys rock out loud! -ahem- Anyway...

So, here is the final part to the final epic battle between our heroes and Tabuu. You guys should like this chapter if you're fans of action scenes. Pardon me if this seems a bit cliche, but it should be original in a way. Oh, see if you can find another small reference. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Tabuu: Captain Black Knight does not own Super Smash Bros. or any of the characters, especially me. Now leave me alone...

* * *

Chapter 32: The Downfall of the Subspace Emissary

"Well…what is your decision?" Tabuu asked rather impatiently. I simply clenched my fists as I glared at him.

"We will…never surrender to you," I declared confidently. Tabuu obviously didn't like my answer.

"If that's your decision, then so be it," he replied. "I'll obliterate you all right here and now!" Tabuu summoned the Dark Cannon out of thin air again, but I didn't care. I simply shut my eyes to stop the tears that were about to fall, and I clenched my glowing fist even more. Despite my tough demeanor a single tear fell and dripped onto my fist.

Somehow that caused the aura to react, since it glowed even brighter as a result. I opened my eyes to see exactly what was happening, but then a strange feeling came over me – two feelings actually. The first feeling was the warm sensation of the glowing aura; it was spreading from my hand to cover my whole body. The second feeling was the twinge of pain on the back of my neck.

_The Smash Bros. tattoo!_ I exclaimed inwardly. _I almost forgot about that!_ The tattoo had reacted to the glowing aura, and the pain was growing with every passing second. I looked at my friends and noticed that they too were dealing with the twinge of pain from their own Smash Bros. tattoos.

"Am I the only one who has pain coming from this tattoo?" Lex asked as she endured the growing pain. As the others shook their heads, Lex continued. "Oh…so what's going on?"

"I don't know, but—GAH!" I tried to answer her question, but the pain from the tattoo suddenly became unbearable, and everyone could feel it. With every passing second we tried to endure the throbbing ache of these branded symbols, but they pulsed with more pain, and finally we couldn't bear it. All of us shouted in agony, but then that caused something else to occur: storm force winds whipped up around us without warning, and the glowing aura from my body spread throughout the cyclone, and everyone radiated brightly. We had to shield ourselves from the bright light and the harsh winds while we endured the pain.

"What in the name of Subspace is going on?!" Tabuu asked in shock as he shielded his eyes from the cyclone of light. The cyclone spun around us for a good minute as the pain continued, but when the golden cyclone ceased, the pain ceased as well. We, however, noticed a huge difference: not only was our health mostly replenished, but we also made a change in attire.

"What exactly are we wearing?" Jess inquired as she looked down at herself. All of us got a good look at ourselves as we examined the new outfits we wore. It turns out that the golden cyclone had equipped us with special battle armor. Besides that change our Smash Bros. symbols shone brightly as well, even through the armor.

"This battle armor reminds me of the Magic Armor that Link wears in Twilight Princess," I answered, feeling the need to make references to video games that we loved to play. The armor indeed resembled that of Link's Magic Armor – minus the hat but including the crown. The only differences were the color schemes and the symbols – they were Smash Bros. symbols rather than Triforces or Hylian symbols. I found myself in emerald and silver battle armor with a sword and shield very similar to Link's sword and shield, both of emerald and silver color.

"Hey, I've got Samus' Arm Cannon on my armor!" Jim exclaimed as he showed off his arm to the group. He wore bright citrine (orange) and silver battle armor, and his right arm was indeed replaced with what looked like Samus' Arm Cannon.

"Hey, this must be Mario's Hammer," Will remarked as he delightfully gazed at a hammer that he had just emblazoned with fire. "Whoa, I can control fire, too!" As Will carried a giant sledgehammer identical to Mario's hammer as well as the pyrokinesis ability, he sported ruby and gold armor – quite appropriate colors for fire, I think.

"Ow, Kitty, did you just shock me?" Renee asked as she received a spark from Kitty.

"I guess," Kitty answered without certainty. "Did I do that? Cool!"

"I wonder what I can do…" Renee muttered as she observed Kitty experimenting with her newfound ability. Without even thinking about it Renee slapped the air and managed to create a small fireball that was similar to the magic of Din's Fire. Renee made a fashion statement with her amethyst and gold battle armor, while Kitty did the same with her topaz (yellow) and silver battle armor.

"Whoa…big-ass sword, much?" I overheard Lex say to Jess. I walked over to see Jess wielding a giant two-handed sword that looked even bigger than Ike's sword. I also noticed that Lex's hands were covered in blue energy, most likely aura energy.

"Yeah, I suppose," Jess replied as she held the sword with little to no difficulty. "Is that aura on your hands?" Lex looked at her hands again and nodded.

"Yeah, apparently I can even see people's auras when I shut my eyes," Lex answered. "Everyone here is blue, while Tabuu is red." Lex wore rather appropriate sapphire and gold battle armor to complement her new aura abilities, while Jess was dressed in bright tourmaline (pink) and silver battle armor. The two-handed sword matched her armor, as the hilt was the same pink hue and the blade had a beautiful silver luminosity.

I was eager to find out what Candace and Kayla were able to use, so I approached them. Kayla, who wore diamond white and gold battle armor, was showing Candace how she could fire light arrows from a bow that could split into two short swords. Ironically, the bow was rather similar to Pit's bow. Candace, on the other hand, was dressed in dark onyx and gold battle armor, and she was showing off two Blasters of the same colors – Blasters that were similar to the ones that Wolf often used.

_So the magic of the Triforce of Courage combined with the power of the Smash Bros. tattoos transformed us into super soldiers of sorts, I suppose_, I deduced in my head. _I can easily tell that each of us has some sort of weapon or ability that carries the traits of some of the Smashers. Well…it's time to put our new battle armor to the test._

"What blasphemy is this?" Tabuu asked incredulously as he gazed at us in our new battle armor. "No matter. I will destroy you anyway!"

"Try us!" I yelled. Tabuu practically ignored that remark as he charged the Dark Cannon with as much power as possible. Just as he fired the cannon, I shouted, "EVERYONE! DEFEND!" All of us formed a single front line and put up our defenses – shields, aura, magic, etc. The laser hit us on impact, but it stopped dead in its tracks. The laser had no chance of penetrating our combined defenses, since we held it back with ease. The laser dissipated, and we relaxed. Tabuu, on the other hand, tensed up and gasped upon seeing us in perfect condition.

"WHAT?!" Tabuu shouted at the top of his lungs. "How did you all survive my almighty attack without a scratch?!" It was clear that Tabuu began to feel defeated at this point. If he couldn't destroy us with that Dark Cannon, then there was nothing he could do – not even his Off-Waves would help him. Nonetheless, he tried that as a last resort. He teleported away from the platform and unfurled his wings once again. "JUST DIE!"

"Guys, get ready to dodge the Off-Waves," I spoke to the others. Just then Tabuu released another set of Off-Waves. Renee teleported away, Lex used Extremespeed, and Kitty ran at hyper speed to avoid the Off-Waves. The rest of us jumped, hit the floor or dove out of the way of the red rings of energy.

"That was too close for comfort," Jim said as he picked himself up off the floor. We all nodded in agreement. Tabuu returned to the platform in great aggravation.

"This cannot be!" Tabuu thought aloud. "I cannot be defeated, especially by these Earthlings!" Since his wings failed to destroy us, Tabuu rushed towards us with sheer anger in a last-ditch attempt to do what his other attacks couldn't.

_This is it_, I told myself. _Now is our chance to rid the world of Tabuu_. I quickly thought of something that we could all do to end this battle, and that's when my eyes were drawn to the orb in the center of Tabuu's chest. _That must be his weak spot_. "Everyone, surround him, and don't let him escape!" The instant I issued those commands the others responded by circling Tabuu and blocking all attempts at escaping. The nine of us all concentrate our energy together, and we summoned a huge spellbinding circle of light that took the form of the Smash Bros. symbol – and we didn't even know how we did it. Tabuu instantly froze in the center of the circle as the light rendered him immobile.

"NO! Release me at once!" Tabuu ordered as he tried in vain to break free of the spell.

"I don't think so," I responded coldly. I then directed my attention to my friends. "One at a time, attack Tabuu with all your effort, and aim for the core in his chest!" As the others powered up their ultimate attacks, Kayla was the one to go first.

Kayla approached Tabuu and fired light arrow after light arrow at the core in his chest, and after that she split the bow into two swords and slashed him in an X-style motion. She then returned to her original position to keep the spell active.

Will was next. He approached Tabuu and fired two giant snakes of fire at him. The fire snakes spiraled around Tabuu and seared his entire body. Will then covered his hammer in flames and pounded the core with his inferno hammer. Satisfied with his attack, Will returned to his spot.

Candace wanted in on the fun, so she whipped out her twin Blasters and fired them at the core. Apparently the Blaster shots had extra firepower, so they caused more damage. She then dashed and used an attack very similar to the Fire Wolf, passing through Tabuu and causing shockwaves in the process, before she returned to her position.

Speaking of shocks, Kitty went next, as she approached Tabuu and unleashed a huge bolt of lightning to strike down upon him. The thunderbolt lasted a good ten seconds before it ceased and left him further paralyzed. Kitty went back to her spot in satisfaction.

It was Jim's turn to strike, so he fired the biggest Power Shot that he possibly could from his Arm Cannon, and it sure was impressive. The Power Shot was twice the size of Samus' normal shots at maximum strength, and it moved faster as well. The Power Shot struck the core and caused even more damage.

Renee wanted to have her day, so she actually combined her light magic and her fire magic into a single magic arrow. She summoned a bow, aimed the Light Fire Arrow at the core, and released it. The arrow made a direct hit and burned him even more.

Lex had spent the last few seconds charging up an Aura Sphere before she struck. She used Extremespeed to ram into Tabuu, and then she jumped up over Tabuu and threw the Aura Sphere down upon him. Lex went back to her spot afterwards.

Jess put on a grin before she threw her two-handed sword at Tabuu. As the sword hit him, she ran after it and began to batter Tabuu with multiple kicks, punches and sword slashes, all the while burning him with flaming strikes. Her Great Aether inflicted much more damage than that of Ike's, but she wasn't done yet. Jess then launched Tabuu up into the air before she jumped after him. She brought her blade down upon him and slammed him into the ground in an explosion before she returned to her position.

Last but not least, I let loose my ultimate attack. I called upon the power of the Triforce and trapped Tabuu between two Triforce panels. Now was my chance to strike. I dashed towards my target and pummeled him and cut him up with multiple sword slashes that were boosted in power by magic. Tabuu couldn't take much more damage, and so I wound up for a final slash – but not before I said this to him:

"Never again will you threaten the existence of this universe! Return to darkness from whence you came!" With that said I swung the blade with all my strength and sent Tabuu flying. The circle disappeared, released its hold on Tabuu and allowed him to sail into the void. At the same time he screamed in a dying anguish and his body disintegrated.

Only the echoes of his death cry remained as Subspace began to dissolve. Subspace caved in on itself, and after it disappeared, all that remained was the pitch-black realm that I recalled from my dream. I stood with my friends in this pure darkness as they slowly began to celebrate – and yet they still wondered what would happen next.

"Guys…we won," I said to them, still gripping my sword and shield. "Subspace is gone."

"That's true, but where are the Smashers?" Kayla inquired with slight concern. I wasn't given the chance to answer that question, as I suddenly felt rather weak. My vision blurred and my body swayed. "Are you okay?" I heard in the distance before I dropped my weapons and collapsed. I thought I saw my friends grow weak as well before everything around me faded into nothingness.


	33. Chapter 33: Recovery and Rationalization

Author's Notes: Wow...just wow. I have over 7,000 hits now, and I haven't updated in forever. I sincerely apologize for not updating this story in over 8 months. Let's just put put it this way: Obviously I work, I hate dealing with college, my friends constantly want to see me, and my boyfriend (yes, I have one now) is with me just about all the time. Thanks anyway for the hits! Hopefully I'll bring up the next chapter in less time. Speaking of which, let me get to that.

So we've reached the end of the huge epic battle against Tabuu, and last I checked everybody (or at least Brooke) blacked out. Clearly the story isn't over yet, but unfortunately the plot is going to slow down a bit. The chapters to come might bore you a bit, but bear with me; they're important. This one in particular will at least answer some questions you might have had from last chapter. With that said, enjoy!

Brooke: Captain Black Knight does not own Super Smash Bros. Brawl, except for the copy at her house. Wait, I thought I blacked out-

CBK: Just shut up...

* * *

Chapter 33: Recovery and Rationalization

_Absolute silence loomed in my mind for a good while, and I could see nothing but the pitch black, not to mention I couldn't move or feel anything. I must have been dead. Was I dead? If I was, then this was a strange feeling for being dead. It didn't feel the same as the first time I thought I was dead – back when I had first been exposed to the power of Tabuu's Off-Waves._

_ Then my thought was disproved. The moment of silence was broken by various faint sounds buzzing around me. Strange silhouettes came into view, but everything else was still black. Somehow the sights and sounds were rather familiar to me. I thought I saw people, and I thought I heard them talking. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it._

_ "How is she?" one voice asked with an obvious tone of concern. Okay, so the speech became a bit clearer – always a good sign._

_ "I swear you've asked me that ten times!" another voice answered in a rather annoyed tone. "Anyway, I patched up most of her major and minor wounds, but she still has quite a few injuries that I can't fix myself. Not to mention that whatever happened to her within the past three hours caused her to slip into a coma of sorts."_

_ "A coma? How long will she remain like this?"_

_ "Well, that depends on the severity of it. In the best-case scenario she could wake up right now, but generally a coma lasts for as short as a few days or weeks or as long as several months or years. In the worst-case scenario…she might not wake up again."_

_ "What? But that can't be! There must be something you can do about this."_

_ "I'm doing the best I can with the Star Fox technology, but all we can do now is wait for any sign of life."_

_ "Wait? You expect me to wait like this? I can't just idly sit here and watch her die! I'd never forgive myself! She needs help now, damn it!" I heard one person slap the other._

_ "Would you calm down before you make things worse? She can't pull through this unless we all have faith in her, and if you emotionally break down, then you're obviously not showing any faith." No response but a sigh._

_ Something about this conversation distressed me. I didn't want to spend the rest of eternity sleeping in the limbo between life and death, and dying was not an option for me. Just thinking about that increased my sense of willpower exponentially. To my good fortune I slowly regained feeling, and movement was something that I could achieve now, if only slightly. I put all my effort into forcing my eyelids open._

_ "Wait…Samus, I think she's waking up!" the voice spoke again. Slowly as I opened my eyes, the darkness dissipated, and the world came into view. "Brooke, can you hear me?"_

Everything was still blurry, but I could make out various shapes and colors. Of course, a harsh light shone into my burning retinas and tortured my sensitive pupils. A moment later the light was blocked by the outline of a person's head. As my vision cleared, it became evident who was hovering over me. Actually, two people were there. The first one was Samus, as I had already heard. The second one stared at me with quivering cobalt eyes as his blonde hair shadowed his face.

"Hi Link," I spoke with a rather scratchy throat. "Hi Samus. What's up?" I tried to act lighthearted despite myself and despite my great astonishment to the fact that these two – and perhaps the others – had survived the onslaught of the Subspace Emissary. My out-of-place nature seemed to help a bit as small grins emerged onto their faces.

"You're alive," Link gave a short and sweet answer.

"Yeah, and your friends are fine, too," Samus added. In response to Samus' comment I sat up to look around and noticed that I was in some sort of infirmary inside the Great Fox. A few of my friends were also here occupying the cots that were set up here. Samus explained to me that those of us who were wounded the most were taken here and that the rest of my friends took up the beds that belonged to the Star Fox crew. I noticed that our recently acquired battle armor was gone and that we were back in our normal attire. Oh well, so much for pictures.

The pain from our most recent battle suddenly returned to me all at once, and it wasn't pleasant. As I winced and clutched various aching parts of my body, Samus acted without hesitation and handed me a small blue and red pill. I stared at it and inspected it for a while before commenting on it.

"Well, look at that; it's a Megavitamin," I mused, ignoring the acute pain for a moment.

"It sure is," Samus replied delightfully. "We always keep them handy." Remembering how it worked the first time, I swallowed the pill right away, and the effects of the Megavitamin activated immediately. Within minutes and even seconds the pain mostly diminished, and that sure was a wonderful feeling. I had to resist smuggling more Megavitamins into my pockets.

"Hey Samus, did you happen to—oh, look who's awake," Snake interrupted as he walked in from out of nowhere.

"Yes, Snake, you were saying?" Samus lead him to say what he was going to say.

"Actually, my question was answered just now," he replied as he looked at me. I couldn't help but give him the most miniscule smirk, indicating that I was pleased with having him in the room. "So, you appear to feel like yourself again."

"Yep, that's what I thought, too, Snake," I responded. "Well then…who wants to explain to me what happened between that last battle and now?"

"I will," Snake volunteered as he took a seat in the empty chair next to Samus. "Based on the evidence I collected, you and your friends were the ones who finished the battle against Tabuu. The rest of us couldn't witness the battle, but we noticed that the Subspace immediately disintegrated, safely assuming that he was defeated. After that we all ventured through the darkness to find you guys, and when we did, all of you were unconscious and wearing armor of sorts. I have pictures, too." Snake handed over a few photographs of us as we lied on the ground in our battle armor. I guess he did get pictures…sweet! Too bad we all look dead!

"There were a few other pictures I found that I didn't take, and I have no idea who did," he continued as he handed me more photographs. I was rather surprised that these pictures were taken, considering that no one else was around as far as I was aware. I confirmed the pictures to be of the cyclone of bright light, us in our battle armor and again in our final battle formation, and several pictures of each of us performing a final attack on Tabuu. It was safe to assume that the person responsible for these pictures would remain a mystery. However, as unexplainable as they were, I still thought the pictures were awesome.

"Snake, do you mind if I keep these pictures?" I asked nicely.

"No, go ahead and keep them," he replied with a combination of apathy and understanding, knowing that I had a good reason to want these pictures. I put them on the table next to my cot. "Anyway, we immediately helped each other to pick you all up and take you to the airships that we managed to find on the way. As we were leaving the darkness, a few of us noticed that you all still had the battle armor on, and those tattoos of yours were still glowing – in your case, Brooke, your hand still had a brightly shining aura about it; that's how we found you. However, once we reached the outside world, the armor disappeared, and your hand along with the tattoos dimmed."

"Hold up, Snake; you lost me at the 'shining hand' part," Samus interjected. "How and why was her hand radiating a golden aura?"

"I think I caused that," Link answered for Snake rather sheepishly. "I was the last Smasher to fight in Subspace before Brooke and her friends were left alone to face Tabuu. Before he sent me into the void, the Triforce reacted to his power and began to pulsate. Brooke managed to grab my hand for a split second, and somehow the energy of the Triforce coursed from my hand to hers – or some of it, anyway. That's when our hands slipped."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, but can you explain the armor?"

"Again, I think that was the Triforce," I replied. "Somehow its power fused with the power of the Smash Bros. tattoos and created that cyclone as well as the battle armor. I remember that each of us had a different color of armor with weapons and abilities that represented a certain fighter. Will's ruby armor, for example, inherited Mario's firepower as well as the hammer, and Kitty's topaz armor allowed her to control electricity – like Pikachu."

"Well, that sounds like a weird plotline for some fan fiction," Snake muttered.

"Shut up, Snake, I want to hear more," Samus hissed as she elbowed him in the rib. "Anyway, I think I get what you're saying. So, the nine of you each gained the abilities and weapons of the last nine Smashers fighting in Subspace. Who had my powers?"

"Jim did," I answered. "He had your Arm Cannon. I had Link's sword and shield, Renee had Zelda's magic, Jess had Ike's sword, but it was more like a Beam Sword. Lex had Lucario's Aura ability, Candace had Wolf's Blasters, and Kayla had Pit's Light Arrows. Oh, now that I think about it, the cyclone had also restored our energy – but then how come we all collapsed after that battle?"

"I suppose that armor you wore had taken its toll on all of you," Snake theorized. "Your energy was probably restored only for that last fight, and afterwards the wounds and exhaustion came back to you all at once – not to mention that you had probably expended the last of your energy to vanquish Tabuu."

"We're surprised that you guys even survived, considering the amount of damage you took," Samus added. "After checking the damage, I noticed that most of your friends were fine. Kitty, Will, and Lex had taken rather heavy damage, and _you _– emphasis on 'you' – took the most damage, rather critical damage, I might add."

"Regardless of that fact, you defeated Tabuu and saved the entire universe!" Snake remarked rather cheerfully for someone like him. Samus couldn't help but give him a weird look. "Not only that, but you saved all of us and came back alive."

"You know, Snake, you make a very good point," I commented. "Anyway, where are the others?"

"Kitty, Will, and Lex are resting in the cots over there." Samus pointed to the other side of the infirmary to indicate their presence. "The others are probably relaxing or conversing amongst themselves. Of course, we landed all of the airships in one spot near the lakeshore. Well, _almost_ all of them." Upon mentioning that fact I recalled the fact that the Battleship Halberd was destroyed during the invasion.

_I still feel bad for Meta Knight_, I thought. _That must have been a harsh loss for him_.

"We'll give you some space. You should rest for a while," Snake finally stated. "After all you have yet to fully recover."

"I probably should," I replied. "Although…I'd like to speak with Link for a moment."

"Understood," Snake said with a nod. "Come on, Samus. We'll check on the others later." He stood up and walked out of the room. Samus followed suit soon afterwards. Link, of course, remained still and silent next to my cot. He barely said a word since I woke up. What in the world could he be thinking?

"Link…you haven't said much of anything for a whole six minutes," I mentioned to break the silence. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just thinking…" he replied seemingly reluctantly. The fact that he couldn't maintain eye contact told me that something was wrong.

"Well, what are your thoughts? Come on, Link, don't keep me in the dark."

"I don't know. I just have a great mess of thoughts in my mind at the moment. I don't even know what to think of them, since most of them are unanswered questions."

"Well then, start with your first thought. What's on your mind right now?" Hopefully this conversation would get Link to clear his mind – and his conscience – so that he wouldn't be so down in the dumps.

"I've been thinking about the events that occurred within the past few hours. I kept asking myself what I would have done if you and your friends had died, if we had lost the battle against Tabuu, if something had happened that would have caused everything to be different right now…I'm not the only one thinking this, either; many of the other Smashers have the same concern."

"I see. Was everything chaotic during that time?" I was hoping that Link wouldn't become overly upset, and I'm amazed that _I_ didn't already become upset.

"It depends on what you mean. While you guys were battling Tabuu, we couldn't witness you or take any action. Although, some of us who were defeated felt various emotions – anger, despair, fear, anxiety, hope – wondering what the outcome would be of the final fight. You have no idea how much I struggled with my emotions after I left you. No one knew if you had survived, let alone won the battle. However, after Subspace disappeared, everyone was in a rush to find you guys and leave the dark void, dropping all emotions in the meantime."

"Wow, I would think so." I gently took a hold of his left hand in my right hand to comfort him, considering how tense he looked as he spoke. "Well, that's all in the past, now. We defeated the Subspace Emissary and saved multiple universes. What more is there to worry about?"

"There is one thing": This time he made complete eye contact with me and expressed curiosity and seriousness. "Now that everyone is safe, what will you and your friends do?" That last question left me speechless. I completely forgot that my friends and I had to go home, and a harsh blow of reality struck me at that moment.

"Damn, you're right," I responded, trying to gather my thoughts. "I didn't even think about that." This was going to be the most difficult decision I've had to make throughout this entire adventure, and I couldn't just give him an answer – at least, not right away. "You know…I think I need to sleep on it. I have to rest and figure out what to do."

"Alright, if that's what you want, I'll give you some peace," Link said to me with a tiny smile. "You need to recover, and I need to talk to Snake, anyway." I think I made him feel a bit better about the situation, if nothing else.

"Thanks," I simply muttered as my lips curled slightly. He gripped my hand one more time before he stood up and walked out of the room. I was left to sleep on my surprisingly comfy cot, so that's what I did. I brought the blanket over myself and relaxed into a quiet nap.

As I slept, many questions rushed through my head: Do my friends want to go home? Do I want to go home? Can we stay here if not? Would any of the Smashers want to go with us if so? Could they? Is that vortex our way home? Can we still use it? Will it stay open forever, or only for a limited time? How long will it stay open? Will we be forever stranded here if that vortex closes? If we do go through the vortex, is it a one-way trip (meaning, will we – can we – ever return to this world and see our new friends again)? What will happen once we return to our world? Finally (the not-so-important question), will these tattoos be gone once we return home?

Perhaps fate would do me a favor and delay the need to make a decision. I knew that whatever decision I made, I had to make it carefully and with the utmost certainty. Once I made the decision, it had to be final. Otherwise, I knew I would deeply regret it later. I was prepared to not sleep soundly during that time.


	34. Chapter 34: One More Well Deserved Break

Author's Notes: *dusts off the old fan-fic desk* Wow...it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, readers, I apologize if I worried any of you about this story. I want you guys to know that I'm back and that this story is still alive. There was no way I could abandon this story - we're too close to the exciting conclusion to just give up on it.

I should explain why I've been away for so long, since it's been almost a year since I last update this story. *Ahem* Since the last time I updated, I've been awfully busy with life. College has become increasingly difficult and time-consuming with all the work to do. My job has kept me busy as well, but I recently lost it and am now looking for a new job (wish me luck). Also, I've been maintaining a relationship and taking on more responsibilities at home.

Aside from life, there is one more thing: I've been debating long and hard on how to finish the story. I'm not sure where to take the plot so that it ends nicely. You'll see what I mean when I publish more chapters. With that said, I've been working on this story during what little free time I've had, and I've been juggling ideas for the conclusion. If any of you have ideas and want to tell me, feel free to PM me; I'd appreciate it. :)

So, 8,000+ hits, eh? Wow, even in my absence you guys continue to make me feel appreciated and acknowledged. This is why I love writing for you, the readers. Perhaps I'll tribute the final chapters to you guys. How does that sound?

Okay, I'll shut up now so that you can finally read this long overdue chapter. Enjoy!

Bowser: Captain Black Knight does not own Super Smash Bros., or any of us...especially not me, King Bowser! :P

* * *

Chapter 34: One More Well-Deserved Break

"Hey, are you awake?" I heard someone say to me as I was sleeping. Of course, I naturally reacted to the voice by waking up. I opened my eyes to see Samus next to me.

"I am now, gee thanks," I replied as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. To my surprise I managed to rest easy despite the millions of questions I asked myself. I sat up and looked around to see that I was the last one resting in the infirmary and that my friends were probably roaming the Great Fox. "What's up?"

"I was sent here to wake you and let you know that the group plans on having a small reception to celebrate our victory, if you can call it that," Samus answered. "If you're feeling better, you might as well get up and join us."

"Well, that was nice of you to inform me, thanks." I carefully stood from my cot and learned that my injuries had healed. I felt much better than I had since the beginning of this entire adventure. "Yep, I feel fine, Samus. Let's go see what's happening." She nodded and joined me as we left the infirmary. As we traversed the halls, we encountered Zelda, although she didn't look all that cheerful.

"Hey, Zelda," I greeted. "What's wrong?" She sighed as she tried to think of the best words to say to explain her mood.

"He's acting depressed," she finally said.

"Again?" Samus interjected. "What's up with him, anyway? He's been acting like this for hours, ever since Tabuu defeated the majority of us."

"Wait a minute; are you two talking about Link?" I asked.

"Precisely," Zelda replied as she nodded. "He's been giving almost everyone the silent treatment, even me – and that's saying something. Peach made him a cup of tea, but he didn't touch it. His sad expression even rubbed off on me. Renee and a few others assured me that he's fine, but I can't help but be concerned for him. I don't even know what's wrong, since he won't tell anybody." Just listening to Zelda's story made me feel a bit down in the dumps. I didn't believe Link to be the kind of person who would be depressed.

"I know why he's like this," Samus stated. "Snake does as well. Brooke, you need to go see Link. His mood will turn up in a snap once he sees that you're up and about and just peachy. Come on, Zelda, I'll prove it." Samus lightly pushed Zelda along the corridor as I followed them. The three of us made our way into a sort of recreation room on the ship. At a long-end table off to the back right of the room we saw a few Smashers sitting together and conversing amongst each other – or trying to, anyway. It turns out that Ike and Falco were trying to get Link to feel better. The latter had his head rested in his hand and his elbows on the table as he tried to ignore the other two. We couldn't see his face from here (his back was turned to us), but we could easily tell that he didn't look too happy.

"Aw, cheer up, man," Ike said to Link with empathy. "I'm sure that she will be fine." Falco saw me standing behind Samus and Zelda and pointed that out to Ike as he also saw us. "Look, there she is now." Ike and Falco were facing our direction, so they indicated our presence to Link, who sat upright and turned to look at us.

His initial reaction wasn't much of anything until I stepped in front of Zelda and Samus with open arms and a tiny smirk on my face. At that moment his eyes grew wide and his lips curled into a grin. He quickly left his chair and rushed to greet me. He practically dove into my arms and gave me a tight hug, a gesture that I reciprocated.

"Hiya, Link," I greeted. "I heard you were moping the whole time, so I came with Zelda and Samus to see you. You're not allowed to be depressed on my watch, mark my words." I was, of course, teasing him, but he accepted my words as law.

"It's about time you healed up," Falco remarked as he and Ike approached us. "Everyone else had left the infirmary a long time ago, and Mr. Elf Ears over here was acting emo and giving us the cold shoulder while you were resting." Samus punched Falco in the beak with a swift left hook, which caused him to fall on his tailfeathers.

"Samus, what was that for?" Ike asked.

"Falco, what did I tell you about making rude comments?" Samus ignored Ike and addressed the blue jay.

"Not to do that anymore?" Falco retorted as he rubbed his beak. "Give me a break; I wasn't trying to insult him." Zelda lent Falco a hand and helped him stand up while Ike just facepalmed. Link didn't even care about what Falco just said; his attention was too preoccupied on me.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said to me as he stepped back. As he did, I thought I saw him hold back a few tears of joy, being the man he is.

"You see, Zelda? I told you he would be in a better mood with Brooke around," I heard Samus whisper to Zelda.

"I suppose you're right, Samus," she relied as she giggled. Her mood was definitely better. "Anyway, now that everyone is together, what shall we do?"

"We have a party!" Ike declared with joy, pumping a fist into the air.

"I concur," Falco added. "We need to celebrate our victory!" He also pumped a fist (wing?) into the air.

"If anything, we need to find Peach," Samus mentioned. "She will be more than willing to cook."

"That reminds me, Brooke," Link spoke up. "Kayla and Candace were looking for you, and so were some of the guys. Come on!" He took my hand and almost dragged me along, but I followed him anyway – wherever we were going. Samus and the others sweat-dropped while Zelda giggled again.

He led me to the exit of the Great Fox and outside, where it along with the Falcon Flyer, the Hocotate Ship, and Samus' Gunship were parked in a neat, almost square arrangement. Kayla and Candace were waiting in the middle of the area along with Marth, Pit, Snake, and Wolf. Something about this gathering seemed very familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"There you are!" Candace said to me, ceasing to tap her foot. "We've been waiting out here for a while."

"I could tell," I muttered. "So, Link told me you guys wanted to talk to me about something, I presume?"

"Actually, it's more like the fact that these guys wanted to talk to the three of us about something," Kayla answered for Candace. She was right; before I knew it, I found myself standing with her and Candace in front of Link, Snake, Wolf, Pit, and Marth. They looked surprisingly serious, and I felt a bit uneasy – sort of like a similar situation in which you find yourself in the principal's office, because you think you're in trouble for something.

"We have something to ask of you," Snake stated in a low and serious tone. Okay, now they looked like they were going to kill us. And then…they all dropped to their knees and bowed at the same time.

"Will you do the honor of creating an exquisite feast?" All five of them asked simultaneously (of course, Marth said this in Japanese). Kayla and Candace were taken aback by this sudden request; I simply sighed with relief and then laughed. Other nearby Smashers overheard them mentioning this – including a certain Princess Peach.

"That would be a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed as she burst into the group conversation. "Come on; we'll get started right away!" Of course, we weren't even given a chance to answer them, as she pretty much made a decision for us. As the men stood up, Peach proceeded to drag the three of us (somehow) into the Great Fox and towards its kitchen area.

The four of us got to work on several of Peach's recipes and a few of our own in order to create the best three-course meal ever. I worked on appetizers, while Kayla and Candace worked together on the main course. Peach, clearly, saved the desserts for herself.

Meanwhile the rest of the group helped each other turn the ship into party central. Tables were set up and rearranged, decorations were hung up on the walls and the ceilings, lights were dimmed, and music even started to play. When all was said and done, everyone was in the festive mood – including the supposedly grumpy villains.

Finally the four of us finished the fabulous food to be feasted upon by famished fighters. We presented our masterpiece to the group as their eyes stared and their mouths watered. Peach, of course, baked another one of her famous cakes, while Kayla, Candace, and I resorted to making several dishes of various seafood, pastas, steaks, and vegetables.

Everyone seated themselves at the many tables pushed together into one table. Link saved a seat for me next to him and Snake, and Samus sat across from me. Before we helped ourselves to food, Fox stood up (at the head of the table) and raised a cup, clearing his throat as he did so.

"I think we should make a toast," he proposed. "Everyone, if you'd kindly raise your drinks…" Everyone (except R.O.B., since he doesn't eat or drink) grabbed their cups and raised them high – some more reluctantly than others. "A toast! To…erm…a toast to—oh shit, what was I going to say?" Fox kept muttering to himself. Captain Falcon then stood up.

"A toast to our kick-ass victory over the Subspace Army!" he said proudly.

"A toast to the world that is now safe from its evil!" Mario added as he also stood up.

"And a toast…to our new friends," Link spoke as he stood up. "We couldn't have done this without your help, so I say on behalf of everyone here, 'Thanks'." We all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"CHEERS!" We all shouted as we clinked our cups together and took drinks. Afterwards we all helped ourselves to food. Kirby and Yoshi swallowed their meals whole in less than a second – they even ate the plates. The others just stared at them while absentmindedly guarding their own plates.

Pikachu and Lucario decided to dine with Red's Pokémon in a corner and enjoy an interesting mix of our cuisine and Pokémon food. We were fine with that, since it saved food and table space for everyone else.

My friends and I conversed amongst each other and with the Smashers, making jokes and recalling recent exciting events – in particular we described the final moments of the battle against Tabuu. The others really got a kick out of our stories.

"Damn, I would've had a field day with that armor if I was still there helping you guys," Pit blurted. Those within earshot of his comment stared at him with 'wtf' looks on their faces. This was likely the first time anyone has ever heard Pit curse, and they safely assumed beforehand that he was too self-righteous to have that kind of mouth about him, so it was quite a surprise.

Meanwhile many of the Smashers took the liberty of praising our work on the food – especially the five gentlemen who had the honor of tasting our food in the past. Some of them looked like they had just died and gone to heaven from the exotic flavors and aromas of our creations.

Finally it was time to enjoy Peach's masterpiece: the Seven Layer Mushroom Kingdom Chocolate Toadstool Cake. Yeah, what a mouthful – literally. It sounded disgusting to some of us, but when we sampled bites of the cake, we were instantly proved wrong. All of my friends praised Peach for her craftsmanship, and she gladly accepted the multiple compliments.

"Wow, you ladies sure outdid yourselves this time!" Red exclaimed. "I haven't eaten anything this delicious in a long time!" Candace sheepishly laughed while Lex just rolled her eyes.

"I agree," Luigi added. "Everything on the table was amazing!" Kayla and I grinned at the second opinion.

"Yeah, why do you think the boys and I got them to cook?" Snake threw in a rather sly inquiry. Peach just giggled.

"Well, thank you," Kayla replied. "I guess that means that we don't suck at cooking." Samus and Zelda snickered and giggled respectively at her last comment.

The merriment went on for hours after everyone finished eating. Some Smashers played games while others decided to dance. Overall I think the reception turned out well. Everyone was having a good time – even the normally evil and grouchy Smashers set aside their bad dispositions for the time being. Bowser danced away his negative temperament, while Ganondorf enjoyed a few jokes here and there.

Most importantly this celebration gave us the chance to forget about all the bad stuff that happened before and also about the highly concerning issues that were to come. Of course, I knew that once this party ended that the latter would be at the front of everyone's minds.


	35. Chapter 35: A Quiet, Relaxing Night

Author's Notes: Hey, look who's back? Yep, it's me, readers. I once again apologize for the huge delay in this story. At least this time I've only been gone for about six months and not an entire year. For those of you who care to know why, here's a update: I managed to get myself a new job since I last left you guys a note (a nice one at GameStop), but I also suffered a pretty bad break-up with my boyfriend, so I'm rather upset about that right now. Aside from that, I'm still in school and working on this fic in the meantime.

10,000 hits! Oh mai gawd, you guys are amazing! I cannot believe I finally hit the 10,000 mark for this fic. It's been so long since I started this project, and it's come so far. I truly have to thank you guys for this. Don't worry, though, this chapter is not the final chapter. There's still a bit more to go after this. I've been listening to whatever suggestions you've been giving me for the end of the story, and I'm still working out how I want to go about that, but for now you can simply enjoy this chapter. So, I'll let you get to it.

Mr. Game and Watch: -BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP- (Captain Black Knight does not own Super Smash Bros. or any of us characters, but she does own those 10,000 hits! Hooray!) *rings little bell*

* * *

Chapter 35: A Quiet, Relaxing Night

"Alright, listen up, people," Fox spoke up to anyone who would listen. "The party's over, so everyone should contribute to cleaning up this place. After that, though, I'm not sure what we should do. From what I've heard it seems that we have to take care of some business, but that's entirely your call." The others began to indistinctly chat amongst themselves, but Meta Knight decided to speak up.

"Sir Fox is referring to Lady Brooke and her friends, of course," he clarified. "There is something they must do regarding their next destinations. However, the hour is late, and there is still abundant time to finalize any sort of plan. Therefore, I believe it would be best for all of us to retire for the night and continue our endeavors in the morning." The others chatted amongst themselves again, until Marth raised a hand and spoke in Japanese.

"Marth wants to know where we can all sleep, since the Halberd exploded and all that jazz," Snake roughly translated for the prince, who bowed his head in thanks for the interpretation. Meta Knight's eyes briefly glowed blue before they turned yellow again, indicating that Marth's (or rather Snake's words) were a bit hurtful. Fox, on the other hand, scratched his head.

"I don't know," he answered. "I guess you guys can find somewhere to sleep within these ships. I don't really care where you end up, as long as it's not a safety hazard. Oh, and don't take Falco's room, or he'll get pissed." Some of the Smashers snickered while Falco grumbled. "Anyway, let's get to work."

Those who cared to lend a hand did so and helped clean up the majority of the Great Fox. Trash was discarded, dishes were cleaned, and tables were put back in their original arrangements. Afterwards some people decided to retire with full bellies and tired minds. They either laid claim to some of the bunks in the ship, or they left the ship altogether to find a place to sleep in a different ship. Olimar, Captain Falcon, and Samus bid the others a good night before they retired to their ships. The youngest of Smashers also went to bed early, dispersing themselves between the Falcon Flyer and the Hocotate Ship. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong joined Captain Falcon in his ship, while Zelda and Peach followed Samus, inviting Renee and Kitty to join them despite the cramped space of the Hunter-class ship.

The rest of the group decided to stay here and at least have some engaging conversations. Although after a few minutes Ganondorf and Bowser became irritated and chose to retire, making their way to some undisclosed location in another part of the ship. Wolf and Wario also became too cranky for their own good, so Wolf left the ship to go sleep in his Wolfen, and Wario left to sleep on his bike (which happened to be parked in the hangar of the Falcon Flyer). Why they chose to sleep in their vehicles I will never know.

R.O.B. and Mr. Game and Watch had already made their way into the cockpit, where they would do some ship work before eventually surrendering to fatigue – if that was even possible for a robot. Fox and Falco returned to their rooms, the former being nice enough to invite Kirby to share a bunk with him and the latter refusing to share with anyone.

After another hour or two more of the group gave up staying awake any longer and departed to their chosen sleeping areas. The Pokémon managed to get an entire room to themselves along with Red. He, of course, offered the remaining bunk to Lex, who gladly accepted the chance to sleep on a mattress for the first time since the adventure began (on a side note I had to laugh to myself for being able to sleep in the comfortable quarters of the Halberd for a night). Mario and Luigi took up another room and shared with Yoshi and Will.

At that point the Great Fox was filling up to capacity – not counting the cots in the infirmary, where Jim decided to retire – so Marth and Ike decided to move to the Falcon Flyer and take up the remaining space there. Kayla and Jess followed them (no surprise there). But what of King Dedede and Snake? Well, the royal penguin fell asleep with his hammer in the far corner of the rec room, while the mercenary curled up inside his cardboard box in another far corner of the room.

The only ones who were still awake were Candace, Pit, Link, Meta Knight, and myself. We were all sitting on the surprisingly comfortable sofas in the rec room except for Meta Knight, who stared blankly out one of the windows of the ship. I assumed that he was either in deep thought or simply zoned out at the moment, but either way he refused to let fatigue get the best of him.

Off to the side of the room sat Pit and Candace on a couch that was separate from the couch upon which Link and I sat together. To my displeasure I saw Candace acting all lovey-dovey around Pit, something that she normally does around any of her boyfriends or love interests. Whether Pit reciprocated that or not, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but they were still violating my personal rule of no PDA – public displays of affection.

I always hated seeing couples act affectionate in my presence, and thus I always strived to maintain proper etiquette around other people – even if I'm terminally single. Of course, at this moment I'd be doing a better job at that if Link weren't touching my hand like that!

I wasn't sure if Candace had noticed me watching her or if she was simply tired, but she suddenly got up and strode out of the room, asking Pit to go with her. The angel followed her, gingerly taking each step in order to not wake anyone. Perhaps they were going to spend some quality time alone or just go to bed. Ironically Meta Knight went after them, either out of coincidence or out of a need to keep an eye on those two lovebirds. Nah, maybe he was just retiring for the night (finally).

"Looks like it's just us now," Link quietly spoke up after a few moments of awkward silence. His breaking the silence allowed me to relax a bit.

"Yeah, you're right," I replied. "I think those two wanted to get away from us, just like Kayla and Marth, Jess and Ike, Lex and Red…wow, they all fail." Just then I heard a strange sound, and I realized that Link choked back the urge to snicker. My brows scrunched a bit. "What?"

"You don't have much room to talk," he answered jokingly. I knew what he was implying, so I turned away, trying to hide my beet red cheeks and the quiet 'damnit' that I muttered. He chuckled at my reaction. Oh well, at least he wasn't being blunt about it.

I turned to face Link again, eager to exact 'revenge' on him. I furtively reached over and pulled his hat right off his head. His eyes went wide, but then he tried to reach for his hat, blurting things like 'Hey, that's mine!' and 'Give that back!' all while the two of us giggled and playfully wrestled each other for possession of the trademark cap. We even fell off the sofa. Surprisingly our rather loud antics didn't wake anyone. Not even the slightest stir came from Snake or King Dedede – well, except for maybe a twitch of the box.

At that point we ceased fooling around and quieted ourselves. Matter of fact we didn't even move when we realized the position in which we were lying/kneeling, which was a bit awkward, considering that I was lying on my back and that he was on his knees hovering over me.

Our marine eyes locked onto each other as we both blushed. But just then the corner of his mouth curled up ever so slightly, and he quickly snatched his hat out of my hand. I snapped out of that brief trance and grumbled. He just laughed, declaring victory.

"That was quite the dirty trick, you sly son of a gun," I remarked. Link laughed again, not denying a single word of my comment. I then looked up at him and examined his appearance. "You know, you look rather handsome without your hat." Link was about to put his hat back on until I said that. He stopped, stared at his hat, stared at me, then back at his hat, and finally decided to throw it aside onto the nearby coffee table. He smirked, and so did I.

Link stood up and lent me a hand to get up – before we fell back onto the sofa. We spent the next hour having a long conversation about various things – our personal lives, our opinions, the day's events; life in general, basically – while Link simultaneously took off his equipment: boots, gauntlets, scabbard/shoulder belt, and pouches (the sword and shield were already set aside yet ready to pick up at a moment's notice). I just took off my shoes and one of my shirts.

There was one thing that seemed wrong, though. As we talked, I could tell that Link was making every attempt to not remind me of what was to come the next day. Once or twice the thought slipped from his tongue, and he even made a small apology after the third time.

"It's okay, Link, you don't have to hide it anymore," I said to him in reaction. "Look, if it's bothering you, then we might as well address it. Say what you have to say." Link said nothing at first, but his expression turned rather serious.

"You're right, fine," he responded with a sigh, as if gathering his thoughts. "I just want to know what you've decided to do. I mean…do you plan on returning to your world with your friends?" Silence loomed in the air for a while. I hadn't really come to a decision about that, and I wasn't sure what the right decision was. However, the ill gut feeling I had told me that I had to choose the difficult option.

"I thought about this all day, Link, and I debated to myself about what I can do," I finally answered him, taking a breath. "What my friends will do is up to them, but I've determined that I – actually, I'm still not sure." The second those words came out of my mouth, Link appeared confused and disheartened. He looked down and away from me, muttering only a barely audible 'I see'. I continued, believing that he made an assumption about my decision. "What I do know is that vortex in the sky is likely our only path home, and it could close at any moment – maybe permanently. Then I'd be stuck here forever. My other friends and family would miss me terribly, and I don't even know if I could survive long-term in this place. If the circumstances were any different, then I would easily just stay here with you." Oops…that last part slipped.

Link's ears perked up, and he lifted his head to look at me. His face still had a baffled yet solemn aura about it, but it also showed a hint of curiosity and hope. I think he heard the last part of my statement.

"I understand what you're saying," he said, looking directly into my cerulean eyes. "You have an obligation to return home, despite your inner desire to remain here. It's your choice to leave if that's your final plan, and I'd say that it's the right thing to do if you think so. I'll accept your decision as well; I'd have no right to call myself your friend if I made you do something – anything – against your will." _And if I truly love her, then I have to let her go_.

"Thanks, I appreciate your support," I replied with a smile, despite my personal guilt.

"I have one question, though," he quickly spoke up. "You said that you would otherwise stay here…with me, am I right?" Yeah, he definitely heard that. I nodded, confirming his curiosity. "I thought so; it reminds me of those journal entries we wrote a while back." An epiphany struck me at that moment. I had almost forgotten about those journal entries. But now that he mentioned them, I remembered writing one and then reading his entry, just as he read mine.

"Of course," I agreed. "I remember those journal entries, too." Again I knew what Link was implying at that point. At that moment he took my hands in both of his hands and squeezed them gently. I quickly felt a warm sensation flow through my naturally icy hands, and it seemed to course through my arms into the rest of my body. Something about having his strong yet gentle hands holding mine made me feel more relaxed, secure, and appreciated.

"We might as well enjoy the time we have together while you're still here," Link said after another moment of silence. I looked up into his azure eyes, seeing a great amount of affection radiating from them.

"Yeah, you're right," was all I replied. _Wow, this moment feels so cheesy_. It felt like a direct scene from some weird romance movie. Nonetheless I took advantage of it. I leaned on Link and rested my head against him, while he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and continued to hold one of my hands in one of his own. I took my other hand and held that same hand.

Link took a moment to softly kiss my forehead before he muttered something I didn't quite hear clearly – something about 'stop time' and 'this moment, forever'. Whatever he said, it was probably very sweet.

Time seemed to move very slowly, likely because we were still awake and enjoying each other's company, yet also because silence had filled the air. Neither of us said anything for a while. Of course, this didn't help the fact that I was beginning to feel tired.

Just at that moment, two things occurred: something lightly fell onto my hand, and barely audible words reached my ears. I looked directly at Link's face and noticed something interesting. He had his head angled down and his eyes closed, meaning he had fallen asleep at that point.

Something else caught my eye: a single, silver tear flowed from his right eye and down his cheek, where it dripped onto my hand again. He must've cried himself to sleep – or rather – he had been crying in his sleep. It was a rather sad sight, yet it was so adorable at the same time.

"…love…you…" were the only words that escaped his lips at that moment, likely the same words I heard before. He had been talking in his sleep. Those words were barely audible, but their meaning was undeniable. I knew what he was thinking.

A combination of all that tugged at my heartstrings. I had to hold back my own tears, resorting only to softly kissing his cheek. No one would have been able to understand the kind of bliss I was feeling right now. I was with Link, at his side and in his arms. Nothing else mattered.

Well, except for maybe the fact that I was still tired. I gave up trying to stay awake much longer, so instead I wrapped my left arm around Link's back, still holding his left hand in my right hand, and rested my head in the crook of his neck. Coincidentally he rested his head on mine. _It looks like I'm not getting a real bed tonight, but I don't care_, I thought. Things were perfect here, just like this.

"…love you, too…" I said sleepily before I closed my eyes and drifted off to peaceful slumber.


	36. Chapter 36: The Final Goodbye Part I

Author's Notes: Alright, so this is a tad late from what I said in my chapter update, but a new chapter is finally here! After an entire year of readers patiently waiting for this and me diligently working on this when I could, there is finally some progress! :D *does a dance in joy*

I have to confess something, however: I had to cut this chapter into two parts for a few reasons. 1) The content that was originally going into this chapter was going to make the chapter as a whole excessively long, and I know some readers would rather read some fan fictions in smaller chunks as opposed to gigantic chapters. 2) Even with the progress I made, writer's block was still getting to me. Thus, I still wanted to be able to publish SOMETHING and still work on the chapter. Therefore, I'm giving you guys Part I of what I hope will lead up to a wonderful ending to this story. :)

As of now, only a few chapters remain, and I'm still trying to put together a satisfying and yet likely ending to the story (including a potential epilogue). Of course, I am now finished with college and seeking out a career-advancing job as well as studying for the LSAT, so working on the final few chapters will be tough. However! I will do my absolute best to keep up with writing, even with writer's block opposing me. ;D

With that said, until I finish Part II, enjoy Part I! :D

Zelda: Captain Black Knight does not own rights to SSBB; she only owns her OCs and the story itself. That sounds about right... *nods*

* * *

Chapter 36: The Final Goodbye Part I

The next morning arrived quickly, and I woke up to two things: the sunlight shining through a window and into my face, and the faint sound of giggling.

"Aww, don't they look so cute together?" I heard someone say, along with the sound of a click. Clearly it was a woman who said that, since the voice sounded feminine. I didn't want to wake up, since I was too comfortable and happy right where I was: with Link. Sadly, I couldn't stay asleep, either. I opened my eyes to bare slits, carefully absorbing the sunlight…as well as another interesting sight.

A few particular figures were standing before me, and they were all bearing smirks and grins on their faces. Peach was standing with Renee and Lex, and they were all suppressing their giggling. Renee had just put away her camera phone when I looked at her. As soon as I realized what she did, I jerked my head upright and stared at her with wide eyes.

"What the—did you just take a picture of me?" I blurted. Renee laughed harder as my face flushed a bright shade of pink.

"Wanna see the pic?" she asked in a taunting manner. I bolted up and threw myself towards Renee, attempting to get that phone away from her. This startled Link into consciousness as he woke up from my sudden movement. Renee, however, moved away from me, and I ended up face-planting onto the floor.

"Ow…that wasn't smart," I muttered, picking myself up into a sitting position.

"Hey, are you all right?" I heard Link say as he approached me. I waved him off, indicating that I was fine – only my pride was hurt. He sighed lightly with relief and offered a hand to help me up.

"So what brings you three in here to wake us?" I asked the girls in a sleepy and rather peeved tone.

"First of all, we were about to have breakfast, so we thought we'd have you join us," Lex explained to Link and me. "Second, Fox and Meta Knight were looking for you. You should talk to them after we eat." I simply imagined what they were going to say to me, considering the statement that Meta Knight had made the previous night. It was likely going to be business and not very enjoyable.

"Sure, why not? I can't skip breakfast, after all." Link went with me as I followed the girls to the kitchen. We found the entire group bustling here as well, so the place was awfully crowded. The girls forced their way through the overwhelming crowd and started preparing meals that were suitable for people like us. I was about to offer a hand to help, but then I realized that Fox and Meta Knight were still looking for me. I wondered to myself if I should just go find them after all.

"I know what you're thinking," Link spoke to me. "They can wait. You should eat something, at least. Trust me, you'll feel better." I figured there would be no room to protest, so I took his advice and joined the girls.

After a long period of time we eventually managed to make food and eat breakfast before going about our business. I knew then it was time to seek out Fox and Meta Knight. Link went with me to look for them, and we eventually found them in the cockpit of the Great Fox.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Fox said to us as we approached them.

"Yeah, from what I heard, you two wanted to talk to me; am I right?" I replied.

"Yes, we need to ask you some questions," Meta Knight answered. If he was going to address what I thought he was going to address, then this conversation was not going to be fun.

"Actually, I have to ask you something, Link," Fox spoke up as he quickly approached him. "C'mon!" Fox pulled Link out of the room before Link could even say anything about it. That left me to speak to Meta Knight alone.

"So, this is a one-to-one talk, eh?" I asked.

"Yes," the knight replied. "I am sure that you know what this is about." I nodded, assuming that this was about where my friends and I were going now that our adventure was over. "Then I ask that you explain your decision."

"Well, I have been thinking about it for a while, but…the truth is I haven't really talked about it with my friends all that much."

"You feel the need to include your friends in a decision?"

"Matter of fact, yes. You might think of me as a leader of sorts, but that doesn't give me any right to make them do one thing or another. They have their choices to make, and since this is a big decision, I thought to myself that they needed to talk with me about what we need to do."

"That is a valid point. I understand, Lady Brooke. In that case, you ought to return to me when you have properly discussed your decision with your friends."

"Thanks, Meta Knight." I lightly sighed, feeling a bit relieved from the pressure of decision-making that loomed over my conscience. I left Meta Knight to gather my friends, but I learned that it would take a while; they were scattered everywhere in the clearing where the ships were parked. I decided to head outside only to find that Wario and Wolf were with their respective vehicles.

"Hey, are you two leaving?" I asked them.

"Yeah, it's been fun and all, but I got places to go, mischief to make," Wario answered me. He got on his Wario Bike and revved the engine. "Smell ya later!" Without even a proper goodbye he turned his bike towards the open road and took off, leaving only a trail of smoke behind him.

"Yeah, same here," Wolf then answered me. "I've got missions to take on. Though…" He paused. "I figured that you deserved a proper farewell." I lightly smiled at that statement. I couldn't have cared less about Wario. However, even though Wolf was not one of the nicest guys I've met, he was one of the first Smashers I met and one of the most important members of my group throughout this adventure. The memories of us fighting on the same side would remain in my head for a long time.

I extended a hand, and he accepted a firm handshake. We stared into each other's eyes, acknowledging each other's significance from the adventure.

"If we ever meet again, we won't be enemies, but be prepared for a fun battle anyway," Wolf told me.

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind," I replied with a smirk. "Thanks." We parted, and Wolf climbed into his Wolfen. He lifted the aircraft up and waved goodbye before he took off into the skies. "See ya!" I turned to go find my friends, but I quickly came across two more familiar faces that appeared to be leaving.

"Aww, not you, too!" I said to none other than Bowser and Ganondorf.

"What? Do you have a problem with us?" Ganondorf asked me.

"Only that you guys are leaving so soon," I answered him. "It makes me sad." The Gerudo raised a brow, probably out of mild surprise or confusion.

"Ugh, don't go guilt-tripping us again," Bowser whined. "Look, we helped you save the world, but now we have to go. We have evil plots to devise, so we're not sticking around here."

"Alright, fine, you can go. I want a proper goodbye, though." I extended my hands to both villains, hoping they would respond positively. Bowser reluctantly shook one of my hands, as did Ganondorf with my other hand. "Thanks for helping us. Even if you're evil, I still appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Ganondorf muttered almost inaudibly. His head was turned away from me. I imagined that he didn't want to admit that he did something good for once. Anyway, we parted, and Bowser jumped into his Koopa Clown Car.

"Well, back to the castle for me; later," Bowser said as he flew away.

"The next time we meet, we're enemies," Ganondorf said, which earned nothing more than a nod from me. "Farewell." Ganondorf opened up a dark portal and passed through it, disappearing from sight.

I wondered to myself how many other Smashers would leave abruptly as I firmly made my way back to finding the rest of my friends. I found a few of them in the kitchen as they finished stuffing their faces. The rest of them came into the kitchen as well, so I decided to speak up.

"Hey, guys? Friends from my school?" I said to them. "Can I talk to all of you in private?" They all agreed, but then they asked where they could talk. Falco suggested the hangar of the Great Fox, since no one's in there unless there's a mission. The nine of us made our way to the empty hangar and sat ourselves down on the metal floor in a nice circle in which we could talk to each other.

"So, what's up, Brooke?" Kayla was the first to speak up. She seemed legitimately curious, but something about the look on her face, like that of everyone else, told me that she somewhat already knew the answer to her own question.

"Yeah, what did you have to say to us that required us to sit in here?" Will added. He figured the discussion had to be important if I made the effort to get the group to sit as far away from the others as possible to talk privately.

"Well guys, I had a bit of a talk with Meta Knight," I replied. "We, er…discussed the fact that our adventure is basically over, and, um…well, now we need to decide on what to do next."

"Oh, I get it," Jim interjected with folded arms. "We have to decide if we're going home or not – and that's if we even _can_ go home at this point." I nodded. Jim was right on point with his statement.

"So, guys…have you put any thought into the matter?" The question that just escaped my mouth seemed to receive mixed responses. Some of them turned their gazes away from my face and simply twiddled their thumbs, while the others stroked their chins and looked upward with a pondering expression on their faces. Candace, however, spoke up.

"If I may say this," she began. "I've rather enjoyed my time in this world, but I have a life and a boyfriend to go home to, and I'd rather not delay much longer."

"I second that," Jess added. "We ought to go home soon while we still have the chance."

"Yeah; who knows how much time we have left before we find ourselves permanently stuck here?" Lex asked the group.

"Good point," I replied quietly. "Well…does anyone here object to returning to our world?" The lack of a response I received was, to some extent, unnerving yet not the least bit surprising. "Anyone?" Just then I saw Renee slowly raise her hand.

"I do, kinda," she answered. The others (except me) gave her a look that implied their belief that she was crazy. "What? I know we have lives to go back to in our world, but this place is way more exciting and has a lot more to offer."

"I see. I have to be honest, too. I don't want to leave this world." As I expected, my friends gave me a similar look, suspecting insanity. "That doesn't mean that I shouldn't or won't, mind you. It's just a difficult choice to stay or leave, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it," Kitty answered. "If the choice was easy, you would've already made it by now." Well, at least someone understands me. "Still, what are you going to do?" I said nothing for a moment and instead just hung my head and sighed.

"Still no decision, huh?" Kayla once again spoke up. "Well, I'm going to say something that might help you make up your mind: we aren't really capable of surviving in this place for very long, and I'm actually surprised that we've made it this long. Also, people in our world must miss us a lot (if they even realize that we're gone), and the majority of us have decided that we want to go home, so if you end up staying, we're going to miss you as well." That last statement really caught my attention. I hadn't even accounted for anyone back home potentially missing me. I looked up, simply staring at Kayla and wondering how I could properly respond to what she had just said.

"Yeah, the way I see it, it sounds like we're either _all _going home or _no one_ is going home," Will added. "Being separated just doesn't sound like an option." For some reason I was able to make sense of the point that Will had just made. If we were all going home, I could only imagine that everyone wanted to go home as one united group. No single person was going to be left behind, if anyone could help that.

"I think what Will is trying to say is, Brooke, that we are really grateful for the leadership and bravery that you've demonstrated throughout this entire adventure," Candace stated. "We would've been incredibly screwed had you not done everything you did to get us back together and to defeat all the evil from Subspace. So, for that we really want to see you come home with the rest of us. We'd miss you too much, after all." That last comment actually stunned me a bit.

This discussion with my friends was, surprisingly, making the ultimate decision slowly easier to make with every statement that they spoke. They all made sense, and my friends pretty much had their sights set on returning to the very world from which we arrived. On the other hand, they all sounded like they had legitimate concerns for what I thought and what decision I was going to make; they appreciated me as a friend much more than I could ever comprehend. I was almost lost for words at this thought.

"…you guys…" I muttered, bowed my head once more, and thought deeply, silently and with my eyes closed. I could almost hear my friends holding their breaths, just waiting for me to say something. At that point a choice finally came to me.

"I believe it's finally time to announce our plan," I finally said with an actually assertive tone. I stood up and began walking towards to exit of the hanger. "C'mon, guys." My other eight friends quickly caught up and followed me, as I chose to look for Meta Knight once more and finally give him an answer.


End file.
